3 – Things become a bit more complicated

"Here, I think this should fit you," Charlie said after a few minutes of searching for the right clothes.

It wasn't that the chief of police had a lot of clothes; on the contrary, he had disastrously few. Mr. Swan was the kind of man who only supplied himself with what he needed.

"Mm-hmm, thank you," he accepted of dark jeans and a T-shirt with some kind of soccer club on it, "Where can I change?"

"On the second floor. The bathroom's right down the hall, first door on the right," Charlie said with a soft smile, and he felt as if he and the boy had hit it off.

"Thanks again," Stiles thanked him again for the clothes and headed up the stairs.

Thinking for a moment, he paused:

"Maybe it's not too late, after I change I'll ask Charlie for the phone and try to call my dad and Scott" the conversation with the man made the weight on his heart subside and so Stiles began to think of options.

"So...straight down the hall, first door on the right," Stilinski repeated Mr. Swan's words in a whisper and, noticing the right door, opened it.

Quickly throwing off his clothes, which were covered in dried mud, Stiles changed his clothes. Because Charlie and the boy were of similar build, there was no problem with the jeans. They fit snugly.

"Wow," he almost shrieked as he washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror.

His eyes, which had been brown before, had changed to a yellow-orange iris, scaring the hell out of him.

"It can't be an "it," can it?" Stiles asked with a slight tremor in his voice, clutching the sink with his hands.

For a few seconds he stood there silently, not daring to move. Until the thought of asking Nogitsune about it occurred to him. Yes, he might not know what was going on right now, but he had no one else to turn to.

"Hey, Dark Fox, your tricks? You have my permission to speak" mentally asked Spirit Stilinski, staring tensely into his own reflection.

"To tell you the truth, I'm as dumbfounded as you are. There's a possibility that this is all related to recent events..." Experiencing conflicting emotions Trickster began to answer the unspoken question aloud.

"Why, you're straight up Captain Obvious!" - The guy exclaimed in his thoughts, still keeping his eyes.

"And what do you want from me? It's the first time that's happened to me too" replies Nogitsune a bit angrily.

He was by no means a fool, and was well aware that something had changed both of them during Scott's bite and Nemeton's body transfer. But just what? The bite or the Nemeton? Some of his hunches he decided not to talk about.

He didn't feel like helping the guy, not only had they beaten him so meanly, but Stiles himself had silenced him! Where had he ever seen a Dark Kitsune being controlled by an ordinary man?!

"Maybe not so ordinary now..." - Nogitsune said to himself, "Time will tell, but in the meantime, I'll watch him change. Ho-ho, in fact, I wonder what he is? A fox? A werewolf? Or something more?" - The Spirit was at all excited about the last thoughts, because it was all so unusual and fascinating!

"So much for the immortal spirit," Stiles mournfully stretched out to himself, lowering his gaze to the faucet in the sink from which the water was running.

"Just exhale and calm down, Stiles. We'll be sure to sort this out," the Dark Spirit decided to take pity on the guy.

"You know, your subdued tone only made it worse," Stilinski exhaled, but still listened to Nogitsune. Since the latter was limited in his actions and was completely under the guy's control, he didn't worry so much.

"Breathe, like this...inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale" Fox began to say. And as strange as it was, it worked.

- It worked," the guy almost exclaimed with joy, and his eyes returned to their previous color - brown.

Before Stiles could go any farther, there were several knocks on the bathroom door:

"Is everything okay?" Charlie asked, staying outside the door.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I'll be right out," Stilinski answered immediately, and then wiped his wet face with the towel on the rack and headed out the door.

"Look, it's not a bad fit," Mr. Swan commented, looking at the guy, "By the way, is there anything else you need? Go ahead, don't be shy."

"Yeah, the clothes are really nice. Yeah, if you don't mind, I can use your phone?" Stiles agreed, asking a question.

"No problem, Stiles," Charlie answered him and pulled a cell phone out of his breast pocket, "Here you go. Do you want to call someone close to you?"

"I want to call a friend," the high school senior said half-truthfully.

He wanted to call his dad first, and then Scott and the guys.

"I hope they're okay," a thought flashed through his head, which was then replaced by another, "And damn it, did I become a werewolf? I need to think this over carefully."

"What's the matter with them, believe me, I know better than anyone how much of a pain in the ass you are. And it's not that I don't like it, you've been fun to play with, especially you. I think I've mentioned this before, but come on..." - Spirit began to pour in.

"If you keep saying crap like that, I'm going to put you on mute again," Stiles retorted with mild irritation.

"And First of all, let me get on with it. That's the kind of people you are; you hear half a thing and you start judging for nothing! I assure you, you're not a werewolf, at least you don't look like Scott, and I would have noticed that right away," Nogitsune finished importantly, and Stiles imagined him smiling proudly.

"Got it," Stiles replies mentally, walking down the stairs to the first floor with Charlie.

"I'm going to step back, okay?" At the same time he maintains a conversation with the police chief.

"No problem, I'll check out the groceries, maybe stop by the store on the way back," Charlie said frankly, not knowing why, but subconsciously he felt that the teenager was trustworthy.

And while Mr. Swan reigned in the kitchen, Stiles made attempts to dial his father's number.

*Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep*

But there were only a few beeps, as if the line was busy. When the third time the result was the same, he tried to call Scott, because maybe his father was just busy and couldn't pick up the phone? That's what happens, right?

"Come on, Scotty, pick up the phone," Stiles whispered with a touch of hope in his voice. His expectations had not been met with any success, but the guy was not going to be discouraged. Not now, he wasn't.

"It's worth a shot, right?" Dark Fox asks in an incomprehensible tone.

"Shut up and think about how we're going to get back home," Stiles replied in a surprisingly calm voice. You can't take him at his word, that's all he needs, to throw him off balance. That's his nature. But he'll definitely be useful in solving the problems to come, so he'll have to be patient.