Jackson was pretty sure he was dead. Maybe it had been the fifth tequila shot, or maybe it turned out he really was too y to exist. But for whatever reason, Jackson was dead, and he was most definitely in heaven.

Why else would Mark have little ears on his head and a wiggling tail attached to his ?

“This is so bad! What are we going to do?!” The ears on Mark's head bounced as he paced the room, bee-lining between the bed where Jackson sat and the closet door. Every time he passed by Jackson had to fight the urge to reach up and pet them.

“Do about what?” 

Mark wheeled around and pointed hysterically at his head. “The animal ears you oaf! How did this even happen!”

Jackson yawned. “I think they're cute. What does it matter anyway, we're dead.”

Mark stared blankly at him for a moment, then rushed over to Jackson's side. Jackson grinned when he felt the warm, fuzzy tail of his boyfriend brush against his arm. “Are you okay? Did you hit your head?”

Jackson faintly denied having any concussions and focused on grabbing Mark's banded tail. It trashed violently, trying to get free. Mark yelped and swatted at his hands. “Don't touch that, it's... weird!” Jackson whined as Mark moved out of range of his grabby fingers. “And you're not dead, you're hungover!”

“Well, that explains the headache...” Jackson rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “But not the ears. What are those anyway?” He got off the bed and walked over to Mark, examining the ears closely. “Are they really attached or..?”

He gave the closest ear a poke, exclaiming in delight when it twitched in response. Mark whined, “ I can't feel my normal ears! Everything is loud and it's terrible.” He pouted but submitted to his boyfriends prodding. Jackson examined the ears with a surprisingly serious expression, feeling them all over. He rubbed a little at where the ear blended almost seamlessly with Mark's scalp.

“I think... these are cat ears.” Jackson offered helpfully. “The little tips paired with a thin tail are usually cat traits.” He gave the tail a quick pat as well.

Mark threw his hands up. “Great! At least we know I’m part cat now.” He gave Jackson a despairing look. “And why aren't you freaking out as well?”

Jackson paused in his examinations and shrugged. “It's kinda hot.”

Mark had a lot of experience dealing with Jackson's stupidity, and had long ago perfected the art of dealing with it. He counted to ten then carefully said, “I think I heard you wrong. Go again?”

Jackson had a lot of experience being stupid, and had never learned to tell when Mark was seconds away from committing murder. “They're kinda hot! You look, like, a y kitty or something.”

Mark decided that no, he was having a ty morning, and Jackson was not getting away with dumb comments right now. He reached up, planning on gently slapping Jackson in the face for being an idiot. What happened was not a gentle slap. When his hand made contact, Jackson was nearly launched into the wall. He laid flat-lined on the floor, looking stunned to all hell. Finally he looked at Mark, who looked equal parts distressed and amazed.

Jackson weakly muttered “I think you got a strength upgrade as well.” He slowly sat up, hissing as his cheek throbbed in pain from the blow. Mark twitched at the sound and darted forward, hastily apologizing over and over. Jackson didn't hear a single one of them though. He was too distracted by the sight of his boyfriend. Mark's ears had folded over in a sad droop, and his tail had wrapped itself all around his waist, sort of like he was hugging himself. Literally every part of his body was trying to convey 'I'm so sorry, don't be angry!' and Jackson found it unbelievably adorable.

Jackson let Mark help him sit up. He grinned at his worry-wart boyfriend, and without warning planted a kiss on his open mouth. The string of apologizes cut off with a startled yelp. After a few moments Jackson felt the soft lips respond to his, and he eagerly tried to deepen the kiss. Bad idea.

The taste of old alcohol and morning breath flooded into his senses, and they broke apart, gagging. Jackson spluttered a bit, trying to spit the taste out of his mouth. Mark wasn't doing much better, judging by his expression and flared out tail. Eventually the hybrid managed to stop choking and straightened himself out. Mark walked over to the door and called back “Okay, first off, we're washing up. I'm going first.”

As he padded out of the room he called back, “While you're washing I'll make something to eat, then let's try to figure out what the hell happened last night.” Jackson picked himself off the floor and stretched, feeling his limbs pop satisfyingly.

“Sounds like a plan!” he yelled back, then settled himself to take a nap on the bed, muttering about Mark and stupid infinite showers.