"So, does this actually work?"

"What? Of course it does. I made it myself."

Across the counter, the shaggy-furred canine inspected the bottle he held gingerly in one hand, rubbing his long-furred chin with the other. The shopkeeper, a slender, grey-furred feline, pursed his short muzzle, his ear flicking slightly with irritation. He could understand the customer's apprehensiveness to try a new product, but it was a little insulting to have his own merchandise be slandered. He restrained himself from cussing up a storm and instead leant back, breathing a sigh.

"Sir, if you don't believe in the potency of the potion, you can just not buy it." He pointed out, and for a moment the shaggy canine faltered, before lowering the bottle and bringing it closer to his chest.

"N-Now, hold on, hold on," The canine shuffled on his feet, awkwardly pulling at the hem of his tunic. "I was just testing you, you know? I just wanna be sure..."

"You're Benjiah, right?" The feline quipped, catching the canine by surprise. "Yeah, I know about you. In fact, I know a lot of people in Wellwater. I've lived here since I was born. My goods are reputable-- I've run this store the past 4 years without a problem. I can vouch for the power of my own product."

"Okay, okay, fine," Benjiah shook his head and held one hand up in surrender. "So, how do I do it? Do I make her drink it? I don't think she'll take a drink from me..."

"She has to drink it, and you have to be the first person she sees," The feline explained with a pursing of his muzzle. "It's...particular. Sorry."

"Uh..." The shopkeeper could tell that the man was a little apprehensive to buy it and take it out of the shop. "Can I just try a little bit of it to see if it works?"

"I wouldn't r--" Before the feline could really tell him otherwise, the canine popped the cork of the glass bottle and tipped it upside down, pressing his fingertip to the bottle's rim, dabbing some of it onto his finger. He brought it to his muzzle despite the feline's spluttering and lapped at his finger, looking down at his digit as he did so. For a moment, he shook on the spot and stuck out his tongue, as if he didn't like the taste before he closed his eyes and groaned, reaching up to clutch his head.

"Ugh, that tasted awful," The canine complained. "And I feel fuzzy...is it meant to be like this?"

"Don't open your eyes, whatever you do." In all his years, the shopkeeper had never experienced an issue such as this, nor had he met someone as stupid as the mid 40s canine. He moved to round the counter, but despite his warnings, the man opened his eyes. The feline froze on the spot, his grey fur standing up on end, as the canine's gaze met his own. He could tell immediately from Benjiah's expression that the potion had worked as intended-- of course, the shopkeeper had no doubt about his alchemy skills...though admittedly, a single drop shouldn't have been so potent.

A silence fell between them; ultimately, the feline didn't know what to do. He watched as Benjiah slowly approached the counter and put his hands on the surface, leaning slightly forwards against the wooden surface as his gaze lidded ever so slightly in the feline's direction. A chill ran up the man's spine at that look, but he found himself unable to move, frozen to the spot. He couldn't be sure if he was embarrassed or uncomfortable, or both.

"What's your name?" Benjiah asked abruptly, causing the feline to gulp.

"Uh...Gías," He introduced himself awkwardly. "Sir, you've had a pretty strong dose of the love potion...so I need you to remain calm--"

Without warning, the canine suddenly hoisted himself up and swung his legs over the counter, crossing the short gap between them with a surprisingly amount of agility. He launched himself at the feline and the two were sent tumbling back-- thankfully, right behind Gías was the door leading into his own personal quarters beyond; though it was initially closed, it swung open thanks to their combined weight, causing the feline to fall flat on his back with the canine atop him. Gías barely had time to get his bearings before the canine was licking his face up and down like a puppy, propping himself up with his hands and squirming against the feline's slender frame.

"G-Get a hold of yourself, you're a man in your 40s!" Gías tried to argue, but he could clearly tell from the way the canine was moving that he had no intention of letting up; whilst his hands kept to themselves, his hips did not-- Benjiah grinded and rolled his hips down against the feline's body and pressed against his own crotch. To anyone else, this would have been textbook sexual assault...but ultimately, Gías didn't really mind it that much; he just didn't like that the situation had come about thanks to an artificial potion. When thinking about the potion itself, Gías found himself instinctively searching for it, but he guessed the canine must have left it on the counter...or dropped it on the floor, for all he knew.

"Benjiah! B-Benjiah!" The feline spluttered when the canine's tongue ran across his mouth and up towards his cheeks, daring to dart between his eyes. "By the gods, are all canines like this...?"

Gías was beginning to think that maybe the 'love potion' he had made was something more akin to a 'lust potion'-- he could tell, very easily, from the turgid mass between the canine's leg that he had a pretty clear interest, but normally these sorts of potions weren't all that strong. The canine continued to wildly hump and lick across the feline's face, and Gías slowly realised that, despite the man pinning him to the ground, he wasn't strictly forcing his wrists to the wood, nor was he pressing down on his legs. Regrettably, however, when Gías attempted to scoot back, the canine simply followed, groaning amidst his licking.

All of a sudden, the canine shuddered and his squirming humps abruptly stopped. A heat spread across Gías's loins and he looked down between their pressed bodies to see the telltale trickles of off-white fluid seeping through the fabric of the man's cheap linen pants. The canine shuddered and groaned atop him for a moment, lifting his head and arching his back, before he abruptly collapsed along the feline's form. He was weighty, and difficult to move for a spindly feline like Gías, but he somehow managed to squirm his way out from beneath him and dragged himself back, deeper into his personal quarters, so that he could be free from him completely. The feline clambered to his feet and grimaced with dismay at the obvious stains on his pants that weren't his own...and, admittedly, he felt a little embarrassed at being half-hard just from the man's wild humping.

Stepping closer, the cat dropped himself into a squat and pressed a hand to the side of the canine's cheek. The man had all but fallen asleep, but it was hard to tell if that was down to the effects of the potion or simply due to his age. For now, he'd leave him there-- he had quite a bit of research to do to figure out why his potion was so strong. He stepped over the man's body, but frowned when he couldn't see the glass vial on the counter. He leant over the counter to look beneath, and an exasperated sigh escaped him. 

There, strewn across the floor, was the vial's contents, intermingled with glass shards.