Toshi woke slowly. He had a strange feeling lurking in the back of his mind. Like he was overlooking something. Light 
streamed through a window. Toshi was at peace with the world. He brought his hands up to rub his eyes and whacked himself 
in the nose. Toshi looked down at the offending protusion and his memory of the day before returned with a vengance.

:So, it wasn't some freak dream...:

Ironicly, he had felt that his life was getting a little routine. He had wanted something to happen, make his life a bit 
more interesting, but now that he lay in a bed completely unfamilliar to him, in a strange, yet familliar world, he wasn't 
as sure of himself. However, he steeled himself, and sat up in bed. Almost as if to do a double check, he carefully brought 
a hand up in front of his face. It was still the same as when he went to sleep, the same orange fur covering the back. 

Toshi pulled himself out of bed, and took a quick survey of the room to find that the beds that had contained Nate and 
Lyra were empty. This worried him until he smelt bacon, presumably from the house's kitchen. Toshi suddenly realized how 
hungry he was, not having anything to eat since lunch the day before. 

Toshi found a t-shirt and a pair of pants handing over the back of a chair. He pulled the shirt over his head, getting 
stuck once because of his reshaped face, and grabbed the pants. Toshi was about to put them on when he relized he might 
have a problem. He took a quick peek over his shoulders, looking at the tail that poked out of a rip in one of the seams 
of his boxers. It started right below where the beltline of the jeans would be. Toshi examined the pants in his hands and 
found a hole with a two snaps above it. He shrugged to himself and thread his unusually shaped feet through the legs and 
pulled them up. Bringing his hands around to the back of the jeans, he spread open the notch wide enough so that he could
fit his tail into the hole. Toshi pulled the sides of the notch up around his tail. He was unfamilliar with the feeling 
that was produced by the heavy material of the jeans rubbing against the base of his tail, and it sent a shiver through
him. It was very alien to someone who never had a fifth limb. He snapped the hole shut and zipped up the front.

Toshi stumbled for the door, and found his vest on the back of it, hanging by a hook. He lifted it off and pulled it
around him. He opened the door and took a wobly step into the hallway. On one end of the corridor, a window looking out
over a lake sat in the wall. To the other end, was a staircase, from which a conversation could be heard. Toshi made his
way to the stairs. Leaning heavily on the railing, he took a clumsy step down the stairs. Toshi slowly took the stairs 
step by step, gradually moving faster as he gained confidence. He reached the bottom of the stairs, his stomach growling
in displeasure. Toshi saw a doorway, a few feet in front of him on the right side of the hallway, through which he could 
see the kitchen. He walked through it, taking in the smell.

"Morning, made some waffles and bacon for us." The fox said without turning around. He was standing in front of a stove, 
flipping bacon with a pair of tongs. Nate and Lyra were sitting at a small round table off to the side of the room. Nate 
looked slightly better than the night before, but Lyra looked fairly worn out. Toshi pulled out one of the chairs from 
under the table, and sat down.

"Good morning," Toshi paused, unsure of what to say. However, he was spared the effort by the fox's arrival at the table
with a plate piled with bacon. Nate grabbed a peice and popped it in his mouth. The fox quickly returned with the pancakes
and several plates. 

Toshi, who was unconfortable sitting doing nothing while the fox worked to set the table turned to him and asked, "Is 
there anything I can do to help you, ..." Toshi found he had not heard the fox's name. The fox seemed to realise what 
Toshi was promting.

"Heh, I forgot to tell you guys my name," He returned from the refridgerator with a jug of orange juice. "My name is 
Ma'haad, you can call me Max, if you want." Ma'haad turned to Toshi. "Thanks for offering, but I don't need any help."