NEET to Neat

>Something smells really, really awful.
>You hope you didn't shit in the bed again, you don't want to get a new bed like last time.
>Your sister never let you live that down.
>You attempt to sit up, but your head hits something metallic.
>As you instinctively rub your head, the movement you make creates a rattle of cans and bags.
>Your eyes open but it's still dark.
>This isn't your bed.
>This isn't even your room.
>You try to move around, but it feels like you're sifting through the trash.
>Then it hits you, both figuratively and physically.
>You're in a fucking dumpster, and it smells worse than anything in the world.
>The flies buzzing in your ear immediately makes you thrash in the dumpster, causing you to go in a panic.
>Trash begins flying all around the dumpster as you figure out which way is up.
>After taking a face-full of what you can only assume to be banana peels, you finally find your way out of the dumpster.
>Only to trip and fall flat on your back.
>Your back aches as you try to stand up.
>You look down at your body and see that you're covered in trash juice.
>'The one day I sleep with a shirt off, I end up waking in a dumpster,' you think to yourself.
>As you look around, you find yourself in between two buildings.
>When you face the dumpster, you notice that it's unusually large to be in an alley. Your head barely reaches the top of it.
>The smell of it comes back to you, and you quickly move away from it hoping to avoid barfing last night's dinner.
>As you face out into the street ready to heave and contemplate why you woke up in a dumpster, you hear a door open and a person grumbles behind you.
"I swear if that little bugger is diggin' through my trash again..."
>As you turn and face the guy, you freeze.
>That's not a person. That's not a fucking person at all.
>That's a motherfucking lizard guy.
>And he looks pissed as hell.

"Hey, you! Why are you diggin' through my trash again!" the lizard yells out.
>As he stomps towards you, you quickly realize he's two feet taller than you.
>Your 'fight or flight' instincts kick in and you run in the opposite direction, deciding not to fuck with a seven-foot-tall lizard.
>But as you run away from the guy, you come across another problem.
>Multiple seven-foot problems to be exact, all of them not human.
>You spot canines, felines, birds, even an animal you've only seen on 'Animal Planet' walking down the streets.
>You panic and sprint to your right, bumping into pedestrians who look at you in bewilderment.
>You need to get away.
>Far fucking away.
>You can't deal with this shit right now.
>Your blind panic leads you into a local park.
>Luckily, there are very few 'people' here, no-one paying attention to you.
>You go to a near-by bench and lay face down on it.
>The bench is larger than any bench you've seen.
>As you lay down, you find that your mouth is dry as you pant from the running.
>You only gibber as you try to assess the situation.
>What the fuck is going on,
>How did I get here,
>And why in the hell are walking, talking, living fursuits so fucking huge.
>Did aliens take over the world while you were sleeping?
>Or did you die in your sleep and got sent to hell?
>You begin to think yourself into an existential crisis when you hear some kind of cheerful yelping.
>You flop your head to the other side and see a sight that deeply disturbs you and confirms your worst fears.
>A normal human male with a muscular build catching a tennis ball thrown by an eight foot tall tan female puma, with his mouth.
>His fucking mouth.
>What the flying fuck.

>The human gleefully runs back to his owner, ball in mouth.
>As the female puma reaches for the ball, the human playfully growls at her and refuses to give back the ball.
"Come on George, give the ball back," the female puma commands.
>The human still refuses to give the ball back, instead of chewing it while rolling in the ground.
>The owner then reaches in her purse and pulls out a treat bag.
"Fine then, I guess you don't want this yummy treat!"
>The human snaps to his owner, and eyes the treats in her paws.
>He then drops the ball from his mouth and sits upright on the grass.
"Good boy!"
>The puma then opens the treat bag and rewards the human with what you assume is pepperoni bits.
>The human licks the treats off her paw, his butt moving like a dog wags its tail.
>You turn your head in disgust as the human eats the treats.
>That confirms it.
>You're in hell.

>You take a sip from your drink as you wait for the traffic light to go green.
>Usually it doesn't take this long to get to the park, but the damn cat at the drive-thru window got your order wrong.
>And that isn't the only thing that's wrong today.
>You got a call from your parents later and was told that they soon won't be able to help you pay your rent.
>You've been struggling to find another job ever since you got laid off from your last one.
>You blame yourself for falling too much into the NEET lifestyle and the shitty dominant genes you got from your parents.
>Not that you blamed them, but chipmunks are more solitary furs. However, your parents somehow got the recessive genes and were the opposite of that.
>They're very friendly people and had made lots of friends in their life that helped them get where they needed in life.
>But no matter how well your parents raised you, they could never teach you how to be more social.
>And that's what's killing you.
>It's not like you hated people or get freaked out in crowds, it's just that you never liked getting help and always did things yourself.
>Sure, it means that you're reliable and you get the job done, but it doesn't work when you're with others.
>Gladly, your parents always knew when you needed help, and paid off your rent while you looked for another job.
>Hell, even your neighbor that you barely knew helped you by offering some of her time helping you get a job and getting you some groceries.
>But that was 3 months ago.
>Your severance package money is running out, and your parents are through some financial trouble themselves.
>They told you that they have to stop paying your rent so that they can fix it.
>You've been expecting this, but you really didn't think that it was going to happen today.
>And just your luck, the same day you order fast food is the same day you realize you might not have a home soon.
>And to think this was going to be a relaxing day at the park.

>Sometimes you get cramped up playing games and being on the computer most of the time. So you go to the park to counteract this.
>There's a spot in the park that usually quiet with little or no people around. It's a great place to clear your mind and think.
>However there's a small part of the day when there's are no people around, and you hope it isn't too crowded at this point.
>You drive into the park's parking lot and make your way to your usual spot.
>As you look around, you smile as you find anyone around.
>But you're surprised to see a human staring at you sitting on your bench.
>The human is a chestnut breed, and he's shirtless, collarless, and covered in stains.
>And he's eying your food.

>Sunlight reveals itself as a white jet puffs move away from the sun.
>You squint your eyes as the sunlight meets your face.
>For a horribly traumatic day, it sure is nice outside.
>After the puma and her "pet" left, you try to ease yourself by looking up into the sky.
>It works for a while as you watch some clouds breeze and streak over the sky.
>But a long strip of cloud reminded you of the poles animal control uses on animals and you're reminded that shelters exist.
>You sit up on the bench and shiver as try to imagine what human shelters would look like.
>Humans whining, yipping, and banging on bars just waiting to get adopted; the alternative being put down.
>Maybe you're overreacting.
>There's not a lot of shelters that put down unadopted animals.
>At least, not where you live.
>Which reminds you, where the hell are you?
>You've never seen this park before, so you know you're not in your town.
>At least you're not on some alien planet. Everything looks like Earth, except you're either two feet shorter, or everything is two feet taller.
>If everyone didn't have fur, feathers, or scales, you would have a better idea of where you are.
>Speaking of furs, you notice in your peripheral view that someone is walking over towards you.
>You look over and see a surprising sight.
>A chipmunk girl.

>You've never actually seen a chipmunk except on the Internet, but she has all the features of one.
>She has a reddish-brown fur with a bushy dark tail like a squirrel's.
>Even though she is still fairly taller than you, she seems to be more on the short side compared to other furs you've seen.
>As you look up to her face, you see that she has slightly cute pudgy cheeks like her animal counterpart.
>And as you look to her brown eyes, you notice that they neatly compliment her fur.
>And they're staring right at you.
>Oh shit, how long were you staring at her?
>She's nearly ten feet away from you.
>Wait, she has some food in her hands!
>Maybe this is your chance to avoid a shelter!
>Quickly, you start thinking about how your old dog gives you the face when he wants your food and copy that expression to your face.
>Her face softens as she sees the look on your face.
>She takes out her burger and unwraps it.
"Here, obviously you need this more than I do," she says softly as she offers the burger to you.
>Wait, do use your hands like a raccoon would or do you just grab it with your mouth?
>Seeing how that the other human was using his mouth to catch the ball, you crawl over to the other side of the bench and take a bite of the burger cautiously.
>She lets go of the burger, and you instinctively catch the burger with your hands.
>'Damn it, let's just hope using your hands is a common human thing,' you think to yourself.
>Thankfully, she doesn't react to you using your hands.
>As you eat the burger, you also eye up the drink in her hand.
>She notices, then she brings the drink up to you.
"Here, you want some? It's soda, but something is better than nothing I suppose."
>You set your half-eaten burger on the bench and take the drink from her.
>You sigh in relief as you finish half of the drink.
"Woah, I guess you were really thirsty!" she says in surprise.

>Poor human, it looks like he has it rough. He reminds you that what's you'll probably end up looking like him if you don't get a job soon.
>He just inhaled half of your drink. He must have been more thirsty than you realize.
>The human turns to you looks at you with a smile, right before he burps.
>"Heh, cute." you say to him.
>He doesn't look feral or rabid. Guess he's friendly enough. It doesn't look like he minds you sitting here.
>You walk to the other side of the bench and set your bag down.
>The human then shrinks away from your side of the bench as you sit down.
>Seems like the human is still a bit scared of you. Maybe you can give him some of your fries as a peace offering.
>You reach into your bag and grab a handful of fries.
>Then, you set the fries between the bag and the human.
>Reluctantly, the human takes the fries and eats them.
>Strangely, he eats them one by one instead of eating them all at once.
>Shaking it off, you look out into the park.
>For a horrible day, it sure is nice outside.
>You sigh as you remember of what your mother said once,
>'Kate, sometimes when life gets a little rough, you should take a little break and enjoy the world around you.'
>To this day, you always kept that advice with you.

>That chipmunk girl just gave you some fries.
>Sweet.
>As you eat the fries, the chipmunk girl looks out to the park and sighs.
>You're heard that sigh before.
>It's the same one you have when you get some relief in a shitty situation.
>She must have come here to relax.
>And it's a good spot too.
>As you look around, you take note on the size of the chipmunk girl.
>She seems about six and a half feet tall, a head and a half higher than you.
>As you recall, chipmunks are pretty small in nature. So if she's small, then you don't want to know what a tall person looks like.
>Some time goes by as the both of you enjoy the scenery.
>However, as more time passes, more furs start to show up.
>More furs mean more humans.
>You start to worry that the chipmunk will get up soon and leave you to animal control or whatever furry version of it.
>If you want to avoid getting your dick cut off in a shelter, you better make a move fast.

>Great, more people are showing up.
>Too bad, you were just starting to enjoy it.
>You reach into your bag to eat what's left of your fries.
>After that, you crumble the bag in your hands and throw it into the garbage next to you.
>As you get up to walk back to your car, you hear the human whine.
>You turn back and see that the human got up from the bench and started pouting.
>He gives you the most pitiful look you have ever seen.
>Looks like he's grown attached to you.
>But unfortunately, you have nothing else to offer him.
"I'm sorry buddy, but I have to go. I don't have anything else."
>His face drops as you tell him that.
>Looks like he understands. He seems like a smart human, you think someone else would help him out.
>As you turn back and walk away, you hear sniffling.
>You turn back and see that the human had sat down on the bench, hands in his face.
>'Is he... crying?'
>As you walk back to the bench, you see tears falling from the human's cheeks.
>You've heard of humans crying, but you have never seen a human cry real tears before.
>You feel your heart crush and break inside.
>He's just like you.
>He didn't show it at the time, but he needed help so much.
>And now that the only help he's seen just walk away, he just broke down.
>But you can't take him in, your apartment doesn't allow humans in it.
>But...
>"You know what, fuck it."
>"I'm bringing you in."
>As you recall, your neighbor is a big human lover.
>She'll help you with him.

>Fuck she's walking away.
>God fucking damn it!
>You need her to take you in!
>Think, think...
>Oh fuck it.
>You'll never survive this fucking world.
>That's it, your fucking dead.
>So fucking dead.
>You sit back at the bench and give up.
>Face it, no one is going to help you.
>Tears start flowing down your cheeks as you cry in your hands.
>You sob at the realization that you're just a dumb fucking animal in this world.
>And maybe, you'll die like one.
"You know what, fuck it."
"I'm bringing you in."
>What?
>You snap your head up to the fur in front of you.
>It's her.
>She's back.
>And she's trying to pick you up.
>However, due to your and her size, she struggles to do so.
"Ughh, you stink!"
>As she tries to lift you up, you wipe the tears off your face and smile at her.
>She looks at you and she smiles back.
"When we get home, I'm giving you a bath. And a nice warm bed."
>As she carries you to what you assume is her car, you thank your lucky stars that you have a person taking you home.
>Is this how animals feel when they get adopted?
>If so, you never want to let it go.

>The chipmunk girl—you've really wanted to call her something else—sits you down on the right side of the car and buckles your seatbelt.
>After that, she buckles herself in the front, pressing a button on the dashboard that turns on the car.
>Hybrid car, how nice.
>As she drives, you focus on the rolling scenery to your right.
>As you pass by buildings, they all seem very similar yet so alien than from home.
>The buildings are taller and larger than normal but seem to have the same architecture as on Earth.
>Even the car you're in reminds you of a brand, but you can't put your finger on it.
>As she drives past a neighborhood, you see that furs live in normal houses. You were expecting them to live in normal houses, but a little part in you hoped for something else, strangely.
>Then as your stomach grumbles, you're reminded of the burger you ate.
>If they make meat here, that means that they must raise cows.
>And if everyone's an animal, does that mean there are cow people?
>You look back outside and try to spot any cow people or any other farm animal.
>You don't find one, and you try to remember if you saw any at the park.
>You don't remember, but you really don't want to think about it anymore.
>You look around the car and try to find something to take your mind off of all this and find a shirt.
>In the front pocket of the blue shirt, you find a name tag.
>"Kate".
>So that's what her name is. Good to know.
>You look around the car to find anything else, but the car has nothing else in it.
>So you just look back at the window.
>Until you hit your chin on the door as Kate drives over a speed bump.
>As you rub your chin, you see that you've entered an apartment complex.
>It's looks good on the inside, but you've seen some apartments that are shit on the inside.
>Hopefully it isn't.

>Damn, someone took your usual parking spot.
>You circle around the parking lot again as you look for empty spots.
>You find one, but it's the three spots where the dumpsters used to be.
>Oh well, it's not like it's going to stink up your car or anything.
>After you park in the spot, you look back at the human in your car.
>You find that he's already looking at you, and your eyes meet.
>His eyes are a dark shade of green, and a bit of a beard growing.
>You look down to see that his pants suffer the same stains that he has on his bare chest.
>But oddly, his pants seem to be just fine.
>As you keep looking up and down at him, he turns and faces you again.
>And then he looks out the window.
>Then back to you.
>Then the window again.
>That's right, you forgot you're taking him to your apartment.
>You exit out the car and take the human out.
>However, he squirms in your grip and you put him down.
>I guess he prefers to walk than to be carried.
>As you lead the human to the apartments, think about how Nicky would react.
>She was always a human lover, but for some reason chose to live in a "no humans" apartment.
>But, she does work at a hummie daycare. She already works with humans all day, so I guess doesn't feel too bad about not having a human.
>Maybe she would help you out with your human.
>She was always a helpful person, she proved that by spending her time helping you get a job.
>You reach up to your apartment building and see Nicky sitting on her porch.

>Nicky was always a cheerful curly haired cat.
>And she has a good heart too.
>You'll know she'll do the right thing and not report you for bringing over a human.
>"Hi Nicky," you say as you give her a small wave.
"Nice to see y— wait a second..."
>Nicky looks over your shoulder and finds your human behind you.
"Who's human is that?"
>You turn to Anon to give Nicky a better look.
>"He's mine, I found him in my usual spot in the park. He's really friendly and really hungry and dirty."
>Nicky gives you a questioning look.
>"Don't worry, he's nice. He was even begging me to take him and when I was trying to leave, he started crying! He was crying real tears!"
"Tears? Are you sure? I've always seen humans that whined when they're sad, but never one that cried."
>"Yeah, it's weird alright, but he's here now. I need to take in inside and give him a shower."
"A shower?" Nicky asks, "You know that you're not allowed to keep humans here."
>"Yeah, I know, and I don't care. Are you going to report me?"
"Oh no, god no. You're my friend, I would never do that to you. And besides, I think that's a stupid rule."
>You sigh in relief, "Thanks, Nicky."
"No problem," she says.
"How about I help you clean him? I know all about how to wash a human properly. Also, I have some human shampoos too." Nicky offers.
>She's got a point there.
>Your family had a human, but you were never interested in him much. He was your dad's human.
>She does know more about humans that you do.
>After all, she does work with them.
>"Alright," you agree, "We're using your bathroom, right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Nicky replies.
>Nicky gets up and leads you into her apartment.

>Wait, hold on.
>A bath?
>You not so sure if you're comfortable about being nude in front of TWO female furs.
>But, Kate is risking her place just to take care of you.
>Also, it's not like you can contest that.
>Ugh, oh well.
>At least you'll get clean. You're starting to smell.
>You follow Kate and Nicky into the apartment.
>Like everything else you've seen, everything's a lot larger.
>The tables, the chairs, the couch, even the TV seems a bit larger.
>And then there's the bathroom.
>Not so different from any other bathroom aside from the fact that some aspects of it are accommodated for furs.
>The bathtub is double the size and height than you one you have, and you feel a little intimidated by it.
>Kate moves you back as Nicky gets the bath ready.
"Now, you can't have the bath too hot or too cold for him," Nicky says as the turns on the water.
"If the water is too hot, it can make his skin dry. And if it's too cold, then he'll never get in."
>Nicky talks to Kate more about human care while she lets the bathtub fill, but you tune it out as you look over Nicky.
>She's a curly-haired cat with white and orange fur spots, wearing a red shirt and some jeans.
>Kate's wearing the same thing, except her shirt is gray, and her jeans look more worn.
>Nicky seems pretty young, maybe not a year over 21. But you can't really tell due to almost everyone having fur.
>And she's pretty petite. Almost like a cat breed in your world, but for the life of you, you can't remember.
>She's taller than Kate, but not by too much.
>You're starting to think that you've become smaller, rather than everything being larger.
>If you could just find a ruler or some sort...
>You try to exit out the bathroom, but Kate stops you before you do.
"Alright little guy, time to get you clean."
>You think for a brief second if you should out yourself as intelligent so that you can avoid being stripped down.
>Oh, too late.

>Kate had already taken your pajama pants and boxers off and set them in the sink.
>You try to instinctively cover yourself, but Kate picked you up and placed you in the bathtub.
>After Kate and Nicky bathed you and Kate getting shampoo in your eye, they dried you off with some towels and put your boxers back on you.
>Nicky takes your pajama bottoms and puts in her washer.
>They then take you to the bedroom to check for any cuts or bruises you might have taken but are satisfied to see none.
>Nicky then brings out a bag of treats for you.
>The bag has a picture of a human jumping in the air for a treat.
"Here, for being such a good boy while we washed you," Nicky says as she offers you some treats.
>You take the treats in your hand and examine them.
>It looks exactly like a dog treat, a small ball of meat.
>It smells vaguely like beef jerky.
>You slowly put one in your mouth and chew.
>It's... not that bad!
>You thought it was going to taste like shit.
>It tastes like a beef ramen noodle powder but in meat form.
>And probably the same price too.
>Suddenly, you feel a furred paw scratching your head softly.
>You look up to see Kate smiling down at you.
>You smile back.

>You're glad that your human is nice.
>He got along with you and Nicky really fast.
>He even let you pet him! And he smiled at you too!
>You don't know if he was abandoned or lost, but it seems that he must have a past owner or something.
>You'll probably have to ask Nicky to look for some lost pet posters.
>But for now, you'll keep him at your apartment.
>And you need some human food for him too.
>"Nicky, do you have any human food and a collar he can wear?
"Well, I don't have any food for him, but I do have a collar," Nicky said as she walks out to the living room.
>You follow her and she leads to the room, where she digs into a plastic bag and brings out a green collar.
"Is this one good?" Nicky asks.
>"Yeah, that's fine." you say as you see your human follow you into the room.
>You call your human over and he stands between you and Nicky.
>Nicky bends down as she puts on the collar on the human.
>He doesn't seem to like it as he pulls away from Nicky.
"Come on boy, you don't want to get lost anymore do you?" Nicky says as she gives him a pet.
>This seems to work so well that he grabs the collar and puts it on himself.
>"I guess his owner must have trained him, huh?"
"It seems so," Nicky said surprisingly.
>"It's a shame that he was abandoned, or that his owner lost him."
>"That reminds me, do you think someone lost him?" you ask Nicky.
"No... I don't think so. I would have remembered a poster on the 'lost pet' bulletin at the daycare. I'll check tomorrow though."
>"Thanks, Nicky."
"No problem Kate. Now, how about I grab some toys here and meet you at your place?"
>"Sounds good."

>You and Kate exit Nicky's apartment and step out into the warm spring air.
>Kate leads you down to the ground floor and leads you through the apartment complex.
>Then, Kate walks into one of the many grass spots in the apartments.
>She stops to turns around and looks down to you.
"Do you need to go boy?"
>Go? Go where? What does she-
>Oh, OH!
>Wow, that just flew over your head for a second.
>Do you? Wait, are you seriously considering shitting on the fucking ground?
>Maybe you would piss, but you would never shit on the ground.
>Fuck that, you're going in the toilet, normal human behavior be damned!
>You respond to Kate by staring at her.
"I guess not," she replies.
>After a little more walking, you're finally led to her apartment.
>After unlocking her door, she opens it like a limo driver would a limo door.
"Home sweet home, boy."
>After her graceful gesture, you walk in and take her apartment in.
>In comparison to Nicky's apartment, it's a lot smaller.
>The living room is connected to the kitchen, and to the right you see a hallway leading to two room.
>To the right of the hallway is a glass sliding door leading to the balcony.
>In the living room is a couch paired with a coffee table, sporting a wall-mounted flat screen TV, and a large glass table next to the kitchen counter bar.
>The kitchen only has the essentials: dishwasher, oven, fridge, microwave, and a sink.
>It's pretty clean in here.
>In fact, most of the apartment is clean, with the exception of the dining table.
>The entire table is filled with papers.
>However, your head barely comes above the table, so you can't really see what's on the papers.
>Kate notices you at the table and walks over and starts gathering up the papers and stacking them, muttering about 'damn job interviews'.
>Is she unemployed? Or maybe she's trying to find another one.
>Whatever the case, Kate finishes stacking the papers and carries them to her room.

>You go the opposite direction and enter the third room of the apartment.
>What you find surprises you a bit.
>It's a decked out gaming room.
>Consoles on one end, and a computer set-up on the other.
>Hmmm, a computer.
>If Kate has a job, you can easily go on the computer when she leaves.
>You're tempted to go on the computer now, but a knocking makes you jump.
"Coming!" Kate yells out.
>You quickly exit the room and walk back to the living room.
>You see Kate opening the door for Nicky, who has a bag of toys on one hand and your pants in the other.
"Here, I got you these. And you also forgot these pants," Nicky says handing the bag and your pants to Kate.
>Kate takes the bag and the pants, putting the former in the glass table.
"Thanks again, Nicky. Come here, uhhh..."
>Kate pauses and looks at Nicky.
"He needs a name," Kate says to Nicky.
"Yeah, absolutely. I already have one in mind."
>Wow, that was quick.
"What is it?" Kate asks.
"I think we should name him 'Cutie' because he just so cute!"
>You roll your eyes. You're NOT going to have a name like 'Cutie'.
"What? No way. If he's going to get a name, it's going to be a proper name. Like 'Murrey' or something," Kate counters as she walks up to you.
"Murry?!" Nicky exclaims, "That's an old man's name."
"What? No, it's not." Kate says in surprise.
>You agree with Nicky, you had 3 old guys who were named 'Murrey' at your job.
>They were a funny trio.
>The argument goes on as they keep coming up with names.
>Kate brought up names like: 'Keith', 'Mark', and 'Jacob', while Nicky picked names like 'Jaysea', 'Froot', and 'Anon'.
>Who in their right minds would name their pet 'Anon'?
>Eventually, it all comes to a stop when Kate comes up with the final name.
>Jack.

"Jack?" Nicky wonders out loud, "Yeah, that's a good one!"
>'Jack'? Even you think that's a good name.
"Alright then, Jack it is!" Kate says with a confident voice.
>As Kate and Nicky continue on another conversation, you start to mull over everything that's happened to you.
>You went from being covered in trash chased by a lizard guy,
>To a horrifying scene of role reversal,
>Then getting fed a burger by a chipmunk girl,
>Then to getting unofficially adopted by the same girl,
>Then getting bathed, fed treats, getting collared, and named; all within hours of arriving here on this bizarro world of furries.
>It's like you're still in a dream.

>Seems like furry TV is just as boring as regular TV.
>At least you get a kick out of the animal choices of celebrities.
>As you surf through the TV, your mind goes back to back to a couple of hours of go, after you got your new name.
>You, Kate, and Nicky went to a human daycare (or as they call it, the "hummie" daycare) to check if someone had lost you.
>As you expected, no one was currently looking for a human from another world as a lost pet, so it was official that you would stay with Kate.
>It turns out that the human daycare also doubled as a pet store, so Kate and Nicky left you in the daycare to see the various products for sale.
>You spent some time around some other humans in a playground you'd see in a fast restaurant, except larger.
>There were about 15 people, most of them adults, but there were a few teenagers and even children.
>They were a bit noisy, but most of the people seemed friendly. The way the invite people to play feels makes you d'aww a bit.
>Some of them would make a happy "yapping", and move around the person they wanted to play with.
>If the person accepted, they would usually make some kind of sound back, smile, and then play with them.
>The other humans would just pull at someone they were interested in until they did something with them.
>You did neither of those things and just waited around in a corner or inside the playground tubings.
>There was one human that danced in front of you that wanted to play.
>He was a "chocolate" breed, which was their way of identifying skin colors of other humans.
>He was the same size as you, and wore proper clothing with the exception of shoes, as there are no shoes allowed in the daycare. At least for humans.
>He would push a ball at you, and you would push it back.
>Apparently that was his way of having the maximum fun possible.
>However, you were not a human pet, so this was in no way fun.
>So you would instead throw the ball, and the guy would go and chase it.

>That got the attention of the people around you, and then in the blink of an eye, every person with a ball was swarming at you to play fetch with them.
>It was like you were the messiah for being the only human smart enough for a game of catch.
>This freaked you out a bit and you retreated into the playground.
>From there, you got to meet every person either dance with their balls in their hands or tug at you.
>At one point, one of the females were trying to seduce you to play with them by weirdly rubbing against you.
>But you were then saved by Kate and Nicky afterward, finished with their shopping.
>They ended up buying a leash, wet and dry human food, and human bed (which was just a fluffy twin size bed), and some treats.
>After all of that, you ended up tired out and fell asleep when you got home.
>Now, it's a bit after 12 AM, and you were watching an animal channel.
>You were using the TV as a way to pass the time until Kate went to sleep, but apparently, Kate's bedtime starts somewhere after midnight.
>However, this was not all not for naught, as you discovered that there are in fact actual animals in the world.
>Strangely but more perhaps horrifying, there are no signs of domesticated cats or dogs in the world.
>The only that you could find were farm animals. Which at the same time ruled out the possibility of furry versions of farm animals.
>At least, that what the animal channel said.
>You then flipped to other channels, curious to see furry cartoons.
>After watching an episode of the furry equivalent to Full House, you hear Kate's computer room open.
>You quickly change the channel back to what it was before and look like you're trying to sleep on the couch.
"Good night Jack," Kate said sleepily as she shuffled into her bedroom.
>After waiting 15 minutes to make sure she's sleeping, you sneak in her computer room.

>You silently twist the doorknob and creak the door open.
>Seeing that the room is clear, you wedge your body in and silently close the door, make your way over to the computer desk.
>Like the dinner table, your head barely reaches the desk.
>The chair is like all chairs you've encountered and is awkward to climb up it.
>Your hand feels all over the desk as you look for the power button on the computer.
>A cup gets knocked over in the process, making you cringe as it thuds on the floor.
>Luckily, it didn't shatter on the carpet.
>After waiting a minute to make sure you didn't wake Kate up, you continue looking for the power button.
>You regret not turning on the light, but that would you sneaking in here look as suspicious as fuck.
>The computer suddenly lights up a vivid red as you finally press the power button.
>It illuminates the desk and makes it easy to turn on the monitor.
>Your eyes squint from the brightness of the monitor, making you rub your eyes.
>Rubbing your eyes does very little to ease the stinging.
>When you're done, you're met with a log-in screen.
>Fuck, there goes your plan.
>The chair makes for a good cushion for your head as you sag into it in failure.
>Your eyes wander around the room as you think about what to do next.
>You spot the consoles on the other side of the dimly lit room.
>Of course!
>You can just look up everything on one of her consoles!
>Getting off the chair, you find a controller on the couch in the center of the room.
>You press the center button and turn on the console.
>The TV turns on with it and shows you Kate's profile.
>Thank whatever furry god they have that there's no password on here.
>Now, to search up one of the most burning questions you've been thinking ever since you got here.
>Is there a furry version of you?
>You can easily check your existence by signing into your email.
>That is if it's even the same email.
>You go onto Google and type your current email.

>"Couldn't find your Google account."
>Weird, but expected as you theorized that certain parts of your life must have been different if you were a furry.
>Wondering what kind of animal you would be, you type out your phone number in hopes to see if that works.
>Nope, same error. No biggie, you can just find your old Facebook account you abandoned a while back.
>But as you Google your name and Facebook account, you find a bunch of profiles of the same name but none that matches you.
>Maybe you can find your sister's profile.
>Not their either. And neither is your mom's profile and even your cousins' profiles.
>You frantically search everywhere for your proof of you and your family's existence.
>No, no, no.
>That can't be fucking possible.
>No email, no gaming profiles, no social media accounts, not even fucking family!
>Do you not exist?
>Did you ever exist?
>Or did your furry-self come with a completely alternate history and personality?
>Could you even call that you?!
>You grip your head as these realizations flood in and drown the remaining parts of your-
>No wait, just fucking calm down a bit.
>It isn't like you're dead or anything.
>You just don't exist here, that's fine, right? Maybe that's the universe's way to avoid a paradox.
>Even if you did, you could be a thousand miles from yourself. You could never possibly meet him, let alone have him take care of you.
>Well, maybe you would understand yourself.
>Maybe.
>But enough about that, you still have some other things to search up. Like how intelligent humans really are here.
>Deleting all the windows, you do a simple search of "human".
>The first result shows a complete guide for taking care of humans. The second result is the actual result you want, which is the Wikipedia page.
>You click on that and you're greeted to the dedicated human wiki page. Well, time to dive in.

>At this point, you know more about humans in this world than in your own.
>You've read so much over the past 2 hours that your eyes are starting to hurt.
>All of this stuff about people being pets is interesting as fuck.
>The main difference between you and a human here is just your intelligence. Everything else is just about the same.
>Due to selective breeding and domestication, there are actually different BREEDS of humans.
>There's just too many to list, but it mainly comes down to where and when the breeds were made.
>There aren't too many differences between breeds, other than weight ranges, personalities, and beauty.
>When you looked at some human pet guides, most of them listed humans having two distinctive temperaments.
>'Active' humans are ones that act mostly like dogs in your world, loyal and playful.
>'Passive' humans are the other side of the coin, acting like cats, calm and more independent.
>You remember Nicky throwing the word 'passive' around while they were talking about you.
>Seems like that's what kind of human you are. It fits well for you.
>After you looked at the guides, you searched up how smart the average human is.
>As you come to read, humans fluctuate wildly when it comes to intelligence. The range of mentality goes from 'dumb pet' to 'apes doing sign-language'.
>On one side, you have humans that think their reflection is another human giving them the business, and on the other, having humans speaking simple words and flushing their own shit down the toilet.
>But on everything you've read, humans are smarter than the average dog back home.
>One thing that got your attention is the popularity of humans being therapy animals.
>Humans reportedly have the uncanny ability to understand and even empathize on how other furries feel.

>More and more stuff to learn about human-pet behavior.
>But you're getting very tired, and your retinas are starting to burn.
>You reluctantly start shutting down the console and turn off the computer next.
>With no attempt to be stealthy, you exit the room and find your way in the darkness to your new fluffy bed.
>When you drop face first into it, your last coherent thought was regretting to look up human memes.

>Ughh, you've overslept again.
>10 hours this time. And in the noon.
>Your eyes groggily blink as you stare at your alarm clock.
>The tongue in your mouth tastes like shit, and there's drool all over your pillow and face. Just like most mornings.
>You take a minute to mentally prepare yourself bring a NEET for another day.
>As you recall past memories, you got told your parents were dropping their payments for your rent soon and you adopted a stray human.
>You consider staying in bed for all eternity. You're really not a morning person. And coffee does jack shit if you don't have the will to get out of bed and make it.
>The phone on your end table vibrates, and you start browsing through the notifications. None of them are acceptances or rejections from job interviews.
>Just deals for some games.
>You ears hear the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing.
>Was that Jack going to the restroom? Is he that trained?
>With your interest peaked, your newfound will allows you to get up from the bed, and go out into the hallway.
>When you get to the bathroom hallway, you see that the door to the toilet is closed.
>Looks like you don't have to pick up human shit! You've really found a keeper of a human.
>Friendly, smart, calm, and silent; what else could you ask for in a pet?
>Giving Jack some privacy, you go to your own bathroom to start the day.

>A quick shower and rigorous teeth and tongue brushing later, you put on some clean clothes and prepare your breakfast.
>When you had a job, you would cook yourself a heaping amount of pancakes to get through the shittiest part of the week.
>But now that you don't have a job, so you make pancakes every day.
>At this point, you could call yourself the grandmaster of pancake making.
>Perfectly sized and round pancakes start stacking up on your plate as you make them one by one.
>You decide to spice things up a bit as you reach into the fridge for some eggs, bacon, and some pulpy orange juice.
>Since this is the first morning you've ever had a pet, you decide to make some omelets for you and Jack.
>One omelet for you, filled with cheese and ham, and another omelet for Jack, with some bacon in it.
>You don't make omelets much, but your mom used to make them all the time, and they came out perfect every time.
>All this time never knew how she did it, and you never did ask. Maybe you should ask her the next time you see her.
>With great timing, Jack gets out of the bathroom at the same time you're done with the second omelet.
>Jack looks like how you feel every morning, with his half-lidded eyes and the unfocused look that comes with the lack of sleep.
>Sometimes they really do act like us.
>You get a cup from the cabinet and pour your orange juice in, and take the plate of pancakes, omelets, and a glass of OJ to the dining room table.
>Jack is sitting on the dining chair, staring in disbelief at the tall stacks of pancakes.
>Jack's bowl is still in the bag on the table, and you're too lazy to take it out. So you take your omelet and put it on your topmost pancake and give the plate to Jack.
>Jack stares at the omelet for a moment and looks at you for confirmation.
>"Go on, eat it," you say to Jack. He takes the hint and starts going to town on the omelet.
>He really must be hungry. You may be spoiling him already.

>This is the best omelet you have ever tasted.
>But to be fair, the only omelet you ever tasted was your own failed creations a while back.
>You never knew burnt eggs could smell that bad.
>But these eggs are cooked perfectly, the bacon and cheese inside melted together into a holy combination of melty goodness.
>And you thought you were going to eat this world's bachelor chow this morning.
>The omelet was gone before you know it, and it left you thirsty.
>You look up to Kate to get her attention, but she's back into the kitchen.
>She comes back with a bottle of syrup and butter.
>After she sits down, she places a pancake on her plate, spreads some butter around, and pours a good amount of syrup.
>She then cuts the pancakes into fours and takes a piece into her mouth.
>She does this with all four pieces and puts another pancake on her plate.
>You notice that she still chewing the first pancakes and starts on her second one. As she eats, her cheeks start to expand.
>As she's moving on to her third pancake, she finally swallows the pancakes in her mouth and repeats the process for the four other pancakes on the other plate.
>All the while you watched her eat in astonishment.
>Amazing. She eats just like a chipmunk too, and with the same appetite.
>In your wonder, you forgot that you wanted to get something to drink.
>You look around for a cup, then you realize that there should be a bowl of water for you or something.
>But you see that the bowls Kate got you are still in the bag.
>You try to reach the bowl, but Kate gets to it first.
"You need some water Jack?" she asks you.
>You excitedly nod your head like you think a human would, and Kate gets up to fill your bowl.
>But when you see what's in her hand, you frown a bit.
>It's not a bowl at all, but a large sippy cup.
>Makes sense that humans would drink out of a cup and not a bowl, but the thought of drinking out of a cup like that feels like your dignity is being stripped away.

>Kate comes back with the sippy cup and hands it to you.
>You reluctantly take it and begin to drink.
>The water is refreshing and washes the remaining taste of the omelet as much as you didn't want to.
>Kate takes the dishes and washes them in the sink.
>While she does that, you head to the couch and relax for a bit.
>You would turn on the TV, but you'll just go with the safe route and wait for Kate to do it.

>'It's a good habit to always wash the dishes when you're done with them.' was something that your mother always told you, and it has helped you to this day.
>You can't imagine what your life would be like if you just let the dishes clutter up in the sink.
>When the dishes are clean enough, you put them into the dishwasher and finish up cleaning.
>Time to watch the daily morning TV.
>When you get to the couch, Jack has already made himself comfortable, seemly waiting for you to sit down.
>You oblige him and sit on the other end of the couch.
>The couch is very plush, which makes finding the remote difficult when you leave it on the couch.
>However, the remote is easy to find this time, sticking out in the middle of the couch.
>You take the remote and flip the TV on.
>Having a computer makes it a bit redundant for having cable, but you always used to watch TV in the morning when you're a kid.
>You kept the cable for some of the nostalgia factor, and for the shows that aren't streamed on your computer.
>With a new human in your house you decide to look for a show that would interest Jack, seeing that he's interested in the TV.
>Basic cable doesn't offer many channels, but you eventually find a perfect show for him.
>It's one of those channels that are designed for humans.
>You sit back and watch the show, with humans on the screen chasing after some toys thrown by people off-screen.
>The music accompanied is relaxing and playful as it shows the next scene with humans playing with each other.
>You glance over at Jack to see his reaction to the humans.
>It's a bit surprising to see that Jack is not reacting much it.
>He's just sitting there, watch the humans on the screen with calmness in his eyes.
>Like if he's studying them.
>You break his concentration by petting him on the head.
>He really is a calm human. After all this time he hasn't shown much of being one of those active humans.
>Nicky was right about him being passive.

>He's calm, quiet, cool and obedient. All the attributes of a passive human.
>And with the addition of him being toilet trained, He is pretty much the perfect human for you.
>Completely undetectable by the landlord. It can't get easier than this.
>Well, you hope he's quiet. So far he hasn't made any noises. He didn't wake you up last night at least.
>But, you have yet to determine if he likes to be petted and such.
>He's cool about head pats, but you don't know about back rubs and belly rubbings.
>So you slowly switch from petting his head to scratching his back, trailing your hand slowly down his neck.
>When you reach his back, he starts to twist away from your hand as you scratch him.
>He turns, glaring between you and your hand.
>Wow, he really did not like that.
>You pull your hand away, to further avoiding pissing him off.
>Looks like belly rubs are you of the question.
>And it looks like Jack is a bit irritated too. You wonder if something happened to him.
>As far as you remember, your dad's human loved belly rubs and you've seen that a lot of other humans do.
>Maybe he still needs a bit of time adjusting to you.
>After all, who knows how long he was out there.
>So to give Jack some space, you get up and head to your computer room.
>You've got to check and see if you got any emails for any follow-up interviews or something.
>You really need a job right now. Especially after you just impulsively brought in a human.
>Damn him and his tears.

>Your computer lays dormant in the room, waiting for you to turn it on.
>A firm press on the power button gives the machine life, the fans roaring and the internal lights gleaming out red.
>The monitor comes to life with it and shows you the boot process.
>While you wait for the computer to load, you sweep over your desk for any dust that might have collected overnight.
>Your mug, it's missing.
>Where did it go?
>It must have fallen on the floor, and as you bend down to below your desk, your suspicions were correct.
>You don't remember even knocking down, you must have been more tired than you realized last night.
>The mug is placed back in its rightful place after you dusted it off.
>This one mug is special to you. It's the mug you got from your old job.
>It's a simple one, with the word "Interma" plastered on the outside.
>The place you worked at dealt with innovating products or ideas of products made for certain species of people, to be used for multiple species or even for everyone.
>It was the perfect job for you. Everything you did at college fit perfectly for this job.
>But it was all for naught as the company could not keep up with the all the other corporations that had the same idea.
>They just couldn't keep up.
>Then the declaration of bankruptcy happened and before you know it, you were laid off.
>The severance package has gotten you this far, but lay-off money can only last so long when you spend it like shit.
>You're lucky it lasted this long.
>When they told your development team to pack up, you took the company issued mug with you.
>And this mug sits here on your desk every day as a reminder of what was.
>Also you used it to drink stuff with it, but mostly to stare at it when you feel like it.
>With all of this reminiscing, you nearly forgot that the computer had finished booting.

>Your emails have not changed since this morning, and the various employment websites show up either empty or jobs that you can't do.
>Even the fucking fast-food places are filled. A consequence of living in a small city. Like the fish in the pond or however the saying goes.
>You tried reaching out to farther places around the city and even some jobs out of the city but haven't found much that fit.
>The ones that did have either rejected you or have not contacted you back.
>You frustratingly close all the windows when you accepted that nothing is coming in for you today.
>The sticky note reminders on your monitor flutter as you exhale deeply.
>Like every other day, you go and browser your game library to past the time and to get your mind off of things.

>Your thumbs rub deep into your eyes as boredom takes over your brain.
>Despite the imminence backlog you made for yourself, you're finding that everything is not worth playing right now.
>You're just weren't feeling it today. Every time you launched a game, you would quickly exit out of them.
>Then you check your friends list to see if anyone playing something interesting. Then you remembered that those people have lives and jobs, and you don't.
>When games didn't interest you and when you realized consoles have no games, you went to all of your social media sites you liked and found nothing of interest.
>This entire search of entertainment ate up two and a half hours of your day.
>You yawn and stretch from your chair, twisting and turning in your chair. The warmth of your blood returns to your legs as you get up from the seat.
>The boredom seeps into your stomach and the need to get some snacks intensifies.
>But the feeling moves lower into your gut and you realize the boredom is telling you of your three o' clock meeting in the bathroom.

>A door slamming rattles you from the captivating dialogue from a Mexican furry soap opera.
>You hastily switch the channel back to the puppy-human channel with the TV remote.
>Damn this remote, it's huge as fuck and requires twice the effort to press the rubber buttons,
>Finally the channel is switched back to where Kate left it, and you drop the remote down on the couch and turn to the hallway, waiting for Kate to walk out.
>A couple of blinks later, there's no signs of movement from the hallway. You guess she went to the bathroom instead.
>You sink back into the couch and relax once again, your head fitting in between the gap of the two cushions.
>The human channel is not all that great. For the first fifty minutes, it showed you everything the world had to offer about the behavior of humans.
>They sleep, then play, then eat, then yap, and repeat. Sometimes, they even throw in a curveball and shit on the floor. At least, that's what you think. They don't show that on there but you assume they do.
>All of this is not really appealing to you. You don't want to be stuck here acting like a dumb animal for the rest of your life. And that worries you.
>What if you get caught? What if Kate's landlord throws you out? What if you catch an unknown human disease that slowly and painfully kills you?
>What if you never go back home?
>The intense angst rambling comes to a halt as Kate finally comes out of her room. She heads to the kitchen and shuffles through the cabinets.
>Your eyes focus back to the TV as you pretend to watch it, sneaking some glances back at Kate.
>Loud rips a plastic bags distracts you from even pretending as Kate digs into a bag of chips; stomach growls reminding you that you didn't have a big breakfast today.
>You instinctively groan as the thought of eating human-dog food comes to mind. The snacks were alright, but you know that dry rocky pebbles are not going to as appetizing as it sounds.

>Kate comes out of the kitchen and walks up to you, concerned about your distress.
"What's wrong Jack?"
>The hunger on your face and hands on your stomach says it all as Kate realized the mistake of not feeding you earlier.
>She looks back to the table and finds the bowl she neglected to feed you.
"Ooooh," she groans, "I forgot to fuckin' feed you."
>She loudly sighs and her shoulder sag, as she walks up to you and apologetically rubs your head.
"I'm sorry Jack, I just have shitty mornings sometimes."
>You feel the same way, especially when you woke up and realize you're in another world.
>Kate goes to the table, grabs your bowl, and sets it down on the coffee table in front of you. You give a half-smile as you're glad you don't have to eat off the floor.
>She then comes back with a small—but large to you—bag of some human chow and slowly pours it in the bowl.
>It clatters into the bowl like dog food, with no bits of food falling to the ground. When Kate is satisfied with the amount of food, she stops pouring and rolls the food back up.
"Bon appetit, Jack," as she remarks with a smile.
>You stare at the food in front of you, unconfident about the thing you're about to do.
>Slowly, you pick up a small handful of the food. The size resembles the average wheat cereal you used to eat, and just about the same color too.
>It vaguely smells of corn chips and if you didn't know what it really was, you would think it was just that.
>You take a single piece and examine it closer, but stop when you realize you have an audience.
>Kate looks at you with confusion, probably from your odd reaction to the food.
>Well, Bon appetit.
>You scarf down the food quickly and prepare for the worst.

>The grittiness is the first thing you notice. It's like eating a cluster of nuts.
>The second thing is the flavor, the lack of it.
>Despite what you think should be busting with flavors of everything a person needs into a single point, it tastes like nothing.
>If there was a taste you could point out, it's the wheat inside.
>Kinda like chips, but without the salt.
>In a quick moment, you swallow the food with little difficulty.
>The humans in the commercials make it look so easy.
>Kate, satisfied that you ate the food, walks back into the kitchen to put it up.
>You continue eating, hoping that the food would taste a little bit better.

>Thank goodness Jack ate the food. You really didn't want to buy him wet food, it's expensive as hell.
>Although, it looks like he didn't enjoy it very much. He's probably too used to begging food off of people.
>Also, the fact that you gave him an omelet this morning doesn't help.
>You finish putting up the food in the kitchen and grab your bag of chips, leaning against the counter and idly eating as you think of other things to do.
>Playing games is not an option, and you know watching TV is just going to make you bored later on.
>You eyes wander to Jack sitting on the couch, finishing up his food and watching the TV.
>How long has he been watching that channel? It must have been really boring around here if that's what he's been doing this entire time. Maybe you should play with him.
>After all, Nicky did get all of those toys for you, a little bonding and playing wouldn't hurt.
>You roll up your bag and walk over to the table, the assortment of toys are spread around in multiple bags.
>Now, which one to pick first?

>Well, that was a complete failure.
>Out of all the toys you bought, the only ones he liked were the ones you weren't good at.
>The balls and the jingling toys didn't catch much interest from him. The only ones that did were the blocks and the toy cars.
>You suck at building and you don't play with cars, so that ruins your whole plan of playing with him.
>Now he's just sitting on the floor, making towers of blocks, only to knock them down and build them back up again, each higher than the last.
>He's strangely a good builder, never once having the tower fall out of balance. You wonder about that time you read about humans playing games with people.
>The article said that a wolf got his pet to play Jenga with him, and another that talked about that cheetah that got the human to play checkers.
>There was even a Kickstarter about a board game for humans out there.
>You wouldn't doubt that Jack could play some games, but you're not going out to buy them. Not now at least.
>You should at least attempt to play with him, even if you're not imaginative with building blocks.
>You sit down on the floor across from Jack and his piles of blocks.
>He's attempting to make another one of his towers, but this time it's twice as wide as the last one.
>You grab a couple of blocks and start building a tower of your own.
>He doesn't mind you taking some of his blocks, he even helps you with yours when he was done with his.
>Together, you make a tower that rivals his in size and width. With the help of Jack, you made a pretty good tower.
>You get up and take a step back to admire your creation. It's just as tall as Jack.
>You're even a little proud of this tower, proof that you really don't suck at building.
>But before you can even grab another block to make it taller, he pulls out a structural column from the bottom of the tower.
>Before your very eyes, it all tumbles down to the floor, colliding into his and making a mess of blocks.

>The look on Kate's face was priceless. She really didn't expect you to knock her tower down.
>Her face went to proud to soul-crushing in an instant.
>After the dust settled, she looks to you for answers.
>You only respond with a shit-eating grin.
>After a second of staring, she realizes this was your plan all along and smiles with you.
"Jack, you little shit, that was your plan this entire time was it?"
>She then chuckles and starts to pet your head.
"To be honest Jack, that was a little fun. How about we do it again?"
>You don't know how to respond to that, so you just smile and start picking up blocks to build again.
"You know, this isn't half bad Jack. You're a really good human you know that? I'm glad I picked you up from that park."
>As he says this, she sits back down and neatly collects the blocks.
>You and Kate end up fun for hours after that, just building elaborate things and knocking them down and doing it all over again.
>It was actually fun, and you really enjoyed her company, even if she did pet you here and there.
>You're almost getting used to this human thing. Maybe you're exaggerating your worries again.
>As long as you don't talk, you can pretty much get by a lot of things. It's like a bed and breakfast, but for an indefinite time.
>And besides, at least you don't have to worry about money.
>Right?


Part 2:
>The large door makes a quiet squeak as you slowly push it open, making you cringe at the thought of leaving too much evidence that you were in here.
>So this is Kate's room? It's larger than you expected, even to your shrunken size.
>Kate's room is like any other bedroom you've been in.
>It has a dresser with a large mirror on top of it, a twin sized bed scaled to her size, bathroom, nightstand, and a black curtain that covers the window directly over her bed.
>None of that really matters right now, as you enter the room and look for her closet.
>Recently, you've overheard a phone call from Kate. Since you're a pet, she didn't bother to keep her conversation from you, and you ended up eavesdropping.
>You really wish you didn't hear it because as it turns out, Kate is "in-between" jobs.
>At first you didn't really mind. It happens to the best of us, and it even happened to you at one point.
>That wasn't the part that worried you though.
>What really bothered you is that she was being cut off by her parents, and will soon be unable to pay her rent.
>That's all you heard from her phone call before she went outside to get better reception.
>You don't know exactly why she got cut off, and you can't really imagine why.
>Things were going so well for you from the past ten days.
>You were finally getting used to the whole "pet" concept, and even stopped worrying about it.
>But with what you just heard, you started to have some sleepless nights again.
>And with the combination of very little sleep and worry, you start to think of a plan. It seemed very unclear how you were going to earn money being a pet.
>But you could help Kate find a job, even if you couldn't directly help her.
>If you were going to do that, you need to know your owner more than by her first name and looks.

>A couple of days later after the phone call, you finally had an opportunity to sneak in her bedroom.
>Nicky came over to Kate's apartment after she heard about the news, and had an idea of going out to lunch to talk about it and even decided to pay for it.
>Then after a brief moment of both Kate and Nicky hugging you, they left the apartment.
>And here you are now, sneaking into Kate's room in hopes of finding her personal information. It sounds bad when you think about it out loud, but it's not like you can ask her or anything.
>You find the closet in her room and open it with the same gracefulness as the other one.
>The closet is mostly empty with a few suits, some jackets, and even a lab coat all being hanged up.
>At the end of the closet is some plastic boxes and a single cardboard box on top of them. On top where a shelf spans on the sides of the closet is a large briefcase.
>If that doesn't have the papers you're looking for, then you don't know what else will.
>However, you're currently interested in her lab coat.
>You jump up to turn on the light hanging from the ceiling and take a look at her lab coat.
>It's a pretty standard one, with the exception of being more suited for a female figure, and having a large logo on the front pocket.
>On a closer look, it has the word "Interma" in the logo. That must have been her old job.
>Must have been a good one too, a shame if she quit or got fired.
>The suits and the jackets are nothing interesting, so you move on to the boxes in the back.
>First, you look to inspect the cardboard box. It shares the same "Interma" logo as the one on the lab coat
>Seeing that the box is the only one not being stacked on, you delicately open the box and look inside.

>On the top of the pile inside the box lays a framed photo. It's a group photo of various furs, including Kate herself.
>They're all smiling greatly, and huddled together around an Interma logo made out of cake.
>The cake has a number four candle lit on it, and on the bottom of the frame says "Interma's Fourth Anniversary".
>All the people in the picture look really happy, and they're wearing the same lab coat like the one Kate owns.
>Kate stands to the middle right of the group, holding a cake server. She doesn't look as thrilled as the people around her, but she still looks just as happy to be there.
>The thought that she had to leave a place that makes her whole situation seem sadder.
>It seems that it was a job that she wanted to have, and probably studied for.
>You put aside the picture and look the rest of the stuff inside.
>Nothing worth much, just some standard work supplies she probably decided to take with her.
>Or stuff that she stole, which you doubt it.
>You finish looking through the box and place everything back as best as you could.
>The next box is just a plastic moving box that ended up being Christmas decorations.
>And you decide that the box below that one isn't worth looking inside considering the size of the box.
>You look up to the briefcase on the top of the closet. It's out of your reach from the ground, but you climb the boxes and reach for it.
>When it's in your grasp, you climb back down and flip the front of the case towards you.
>It's fairly large and heavy, and it's locked with a three digit code.
>You sigh and set the case on the ground and sit in front of it.
>It seems like a huge invasion of privacy if you're going to brute-force the code to her case full of personal documents.
>Should you really do it?
>But then again, you do remember that she stripped you and forced you to bathe. And checked out your entire body when you were nude.
>Yeah, you should.

>Basic math says that it would take you at least sixteen minutes to guess all possible codes on this briefcase if you did one code a second. That's enough of time for you to guess them all.
>But before you go through all that bullshit, you check to see if the current code unlocks it.
>Unfortunately it does not, and sliding all the numbers up or down by one doesn't work either.
>So you reset the code to zero-zero-zero and start from there.

>That did not take as long as you expected. With luck on your side, the code turned out to be two-two-three.
>With that code, the briefcase opens up and reveals its secrets.
>A short fist-pump later, you pick up the topmost folder inside and take a look.
>The first thing in the manila folder is Kate's birth certificate.
>Her full name is Kate Reller, and her date of birth is April 24th, 1992.
>The current year is 2018, so that makes her twenty-six. She's pretty young, just two years older than you.
>She was born in Lakewood, Colorado, and her father was Jared Reller, and her mother is Nellie Reller. Nothing surprising there, just some very normal names.
>The rest of the folder has her social security, medical records, and other things of hers.
>You finally find out her height, which as her medical records of last year say, is five feet and six inches.
>This would have been surprising to you, but you already figured out why everything is larger.
>It turns out that you just got smaller, both in height and volume. You figured that out when you looked up the average human size which turned out to be three feet five inches.
>Judging by Kate's height and the heights of the humans you've met, you're slightly above that average.

>You continue looking around the case and you find a school report card of hers.
>She was a B student and having A's in all of her advanced science classes. Which makes sense considering her past job.
>What a nerd though, you would have never have guessed it.
>And with her school report card is a copy of her graduation certificate.
>After that you find her college papers. She graduated from a college in Colorado and even has a bachelor's degree.
>She's doing pretty well of in terms of academics, why is she struggling to get a job now?
>Is there some kind of furry job depression going on? Or does it have something to do with her?
>Collage stuff aside, you find some more pictures of Kate.
>The first one is of her and her high school graduating class. All smiles there, just like the second picture you find.
>This one is her and her parents posing for a photo in her graduation gown. Her father is an older gray chipmunk, while her mother is just like Kate, except older.
>They're both very proud of Kate in this photo, which reminds you of your own graduation.
>But you don't want to think about that right now, not while you're stuck here in this world.
>You find some more pictures: her 21st birthday, her college graduation, and even a series of tear-jerking pictures of her leaving the state and becoming a free woman.
>It's surprising to you that these were all printed out and kept here, instead of somewhere else like her parents' house. Or maybe these are just copies?
>You don't spend too much time on the photos and keep looking around in her case.
>Nothing else of interest that you wanted to read, so you put all of her stuff back and reseal the case.
>You lock the case and shuffle the code, and put it back on top of the closet.
>When you climb back on the top, you find out that you neglected to see some tin boxes up here.
>But before you can grab one, you hear a door slam in the apartment and your body freezes up.
>"Oh shit!"

>Your feet lose footing as the box below you begins to wobble and falls out from underneath you.
>You land hard onto your back, knocking the wind out of your lungs.
>The box collapses with you on the floor, creating a heavy thud that reverberates throughout the entire closet.
>Your back aches and you have a tight twinge in your spine that you feel with every breath you take as you fill up your lungs again.
>This is not the time to be on the floor! She definitely heard that box and she's going to be in here any minute.
>Alright body, it's time to get up now.
>Your body does not respond, and you try to will yourself once more.
>With some effort, you sit up and face the fallen box. Luckily the box didn't open up.
>You quickly grab the box and push it back where it belongs. Then you rush out of the closet, shut the door, and exit Kate's room.
>After slowly shutting the door, you look peek out into the hallway. You don't see Kate in the living room, but you do see her keys on the table.
>Looking to the kitchen, you find the blinds leading to the patio door open. On the other side of those glass doors is Kate.
>She looks out into the world with a sad stare. Judging by the look on her face, talking with Nicky didn't go well.
>The realization that the situation might be worse than you thought makes your stomach tighten.
>You really hate to see her down like this, so you tap on the glass door to get her attention.
>She snaps out of her trance and turns her attention to you. She gives you a small smile and opens the patio door.
"Hey there boy, did you miss me?" she says softly, bending down to pet you on the head.
>You smile back at her and act like you enjoy the petting, pushing your head into her paw.
>She sighs and gets up, walking past you and into the kitchen.
"You must be hungry, huh?" she says, reaching for the bag of food.

>You go through the whole process of cleaning Jack's bowl and filling it up for him, making sure the bowl is extra clean.
>The food you give him is the cheap kind, and you're thankful that he likes it. Well, at least you think he does.
>He doesn't show it when he eats. He's an unexpressive human most of the time, and he keeps to himself.
>Especially when he's watching TV. He just stares at that thing no matter what channel you keep it on.
>And when you think about it, sometimes the channels are different when you go in the living room.
>Strangely, it's always on the channels near the "HumanTV" channel. You thought it was Jack messing with the remote, so you moved it on top of the TV.
>But even then it was always on a different channel, and you never once caught him messing with the remote.
>Eh, you're just being paranoid. He's just an animal waiting for you to pet him and feed him.
>And he looks hungry right now, so you give him his bowl.
>He takes the bowl from you and walks to his usual spot on the couch.
>With him on the couch and busy in front of the screen, you're now alone with your thoughts.
>No job, dwindling money, your parents dropping your rent, even Nicky is struggling to help you.
>When you and Nicky were talking earlier, she told you that she's done all she can, saying that if you don't accept her help then she won't put in the effort to help.
>She reminded you of that time she tried to get you to work with her at the human daycare when you first got laid off, but you waved it off saying, 'Don't worry, I'll back on my feet in no time. I can do it myself.'

>Then there was the time where she offered to have you move in with her temporarily but declined to say, 'Don't worry, my parents are helping me with my rent. I don't need help.'
>She kept listing all the times she tried to help you and all the times you've said 'I can do it myself'.
>Then she told you she's tired, and that she's not going to help you if you keep 'fucking around'.
>She has never said the word "fucking" to you ever since you've met her. It was a scary moment for you.
>Yet, she still was trying to help you. She said that her offer to move in with her was still open.
>Until you got Jack, and she really laid on the pain there.
>She told you how keeping Jack was 'impulsive', and telling you that you should put him up for adoption before you get caught and either forced to get rid of him or risk getting kicked out.
>And you kinda agree with her. You can't keep Jack if you don't have a job.
>But yet, why did you do it? You told Nicky the same question, and she thinks it had something to do about stress and something to take comfort in.
>She's sorta right, but you still can't explain it.
>The conversation then steered on to other things, and Nicky gave you one final helping hand.
>She said that she was willing to pay next month's rent, and only next month's if you allowed her to come to your house and force you to find a job.
>This time, you accepted her help. No more bullshit this time.
>You are going to get a job, or else you'll be out of a home.
>And speaking of jobs, you should go look on your computer to see if anyone responded to your resumes you have out now.
>One restroom break later, you're on your computer looking through your emails.
>Nothing, which officially means that they don't want to hire you. Which also means that all of your applications that you sent this month have been rejected.
>You guess that means more fucking around on the computer until hunger or sleep gets to you, whichever one comes first.

>Sleep got to you first. Your eyes are getting heavy and you've wasted the rest of your day on the computer.
>Without much thought, you click the shutdown button and exit the room.
>You take a peek in the dimly-lit living room and find Jack lying on his bed, fast asleep.
>The TV is still on, but you ignore it and go straight into your room.
>When you get there, you find that your closet light is turned on.
>You rack your head trying to remember when you went into the closet.
>It couldn't have been today, or even this week. The only time you would open it is when you forget your social security number.
>And the last time you did that was making those applications.
>So why in the hell is it on?
>Wait, is there somebody in there? Is there someone in your house?
>No, there couldn't be, you're very sure you've locked the door.
>And you have a human, so you definitely know there's someone in the house with Jack around.
>You're just acting paranoid again.
>But to be sure...
>With a little hesitance, you get on your knees and look under the door.
>You don't see anyone in there, and you don't hear anything either.
>Come on Kate, there's no one fucking in there. Maybe you actually did leave the light on.
>But still, there's a small part of you that's scared.
>Then you remember that you have a case of mace in your nightstand. You hope that shit hasn't expired.
>You hurry across the room and take your mace out of the drawer.
>With yourself armed, you grab the handle of the closet door.
>Please let there be no one there, please let there be no one there.
>Your heart begins to race as you try to will yourself to open the door.
>With the speed of a cheetah, you whip open the door and mace whoever is in there.
>But the mace didn't work, because you forgot to take off the safety.
>Wow, if there was someone actually in the closet, you would have been raped.
>And you would have sprayed your clothes.

>With a relieved sigh, you put down the mace and look into the closet.
>There's no one in here, and nothing has been stolen either.
>It was just all in your mind.
>You turn off the closet light and shut the door, leaning against it to relax your heart.
>Well, that was a roller coaster of events, thanks to your paranoia.
>Now you don't feel like sleeping, at least alone. Maybe drinking some water would clear your mind.
>You walk all the way to the kitchen, turning on all the lights in your way.
>Jack makes some disapproving grumbles with all the lights on, but he doesn't seem to mind much and quickly goes back to sleep.
>You take a pitcher of water out of the fridge and pour yourself a small cup of water.
>While you drink your water, your mind wanders to Jack and the closet.
>He would definitely know that you're being attacked and would come to save you, right?
>You haven't had him for long, but he would at least noticed that something was wrong.
>As cute as humans can be, they're nothing to fuck with. You've seen what humans could do on a cop show a couple of times.
>The police would train them to put people in sleeper holds or even tackle grown men.
>There was even an episode where a human tackled a six-foot bull to the ground, and the human was half his size!
>Now Jack is no police human. At least, you can't tell if he is one.
>But enough about that, it won't have to come to that.
>Maybe you can keep Jack in your room for the night.
>You dry your cup and put everything back where it belongs and walk up to Jack's bed.
>With a little shake on the shoulder, he opens his dark emerald eyes and stares at you.
"Come on Jack, you're going to sleep with me tonight."
>You tug on his arm and pull him up, getting him off his bed.
>Then you turn off all the lights and the TV and lead him into your room.
>He sluggishly follows and you close the door behind him.
>The door shuts behind you with Kate turning on the bedroom light, once again blinding your tired eyes.
>She starts walking around the room doing something, but you’re too tired to pay attention.
>You were having a good dream before she woke you up. It was about home, but it was too hazy to remember.
>You don’t know why Kate suddenly decided to have you sleep with her, she bought you a bed for a reason.
>Maybe she just wants to—
>Wait, what is she doing?
>You watch as Kate starts pulling off her shirt and reaches back to unclip her bra.
>Oh god, why is she stripping in front of you?!
>She didn’t mean that kind of sleeping, right?
>You quickly turn around in shock, not wanting to watch the scene unfold in front of you.
>Then you hear Kate unzip her pants and throws her clothes over somewhere. The realization then hits you. You're a pet. She doesn’t care if you’re looking.
>Should you look through? This is a private time for her.
>Maybe just one peak. After all, you just want to make sure furries don’t have some sort of hidden third arm, right?
>You turn around and see catch Kate just in the process of putting on some pajama bottoms.
>Her (unfortunate) small butt has no problem getting into her pajamas, and she buttons up a flap above where her tail goes through the pants.
>Then she pulls out a bland grey t-shirt over her small and bare chest.
>She seems content with this and goes off into the bathroom and closes the door.
>Wow. That was an experience. Furries are pretty normal looking under their clothes.
>That solves that mystery.
>While you wait for Kate to finish up on the bathroom, you clamber up onto the bed and lie down on the plush bedding.
>Home is still on your mind, and that sinking feeling keeps coming back. Will you ever go home? Is there even a way home?
>You miss your family too. You were planning on visiting your parents at one point.

>Though, that doesn’t matter now. Being stuck here in this furry world is hell on your sociability and your sanity.
>Not talking is the worst part. It’s entirely suffocating that one word out of your mouth could send your ass to Area 51. And the loneliness is getting to you. The only intelligent human being in the world is hell on earth. Talking over the internet is an option, but you don’t think you can do that.
>A human talking on the internet. You softly chuckle at the thought of being a joke come true.
>All these thoughts in your head is keeping you from sleeping. You push to try them out and get ready to sleep.

>God damn knots, this is the shit you get when you want longer hair.
>Your brush passes through your hair, pulling out tangles in your hair every fifth brushstroke. Every untangled knot makes you wince.
>You and your hair are in a love-hate relationship. Long hair really fits you, but sometimes you get lazy and forget to brush it for a day or two. Then your hair decides, “Fuck you bitch,” and tangles up in revenge.
>Or maybe you’re complaining too much and should stop being lazy.
>Either way, you’re done brushing it for now. You just want to sleep already. For once you have a human that could sit still in one spot.
>Your old pet back when you were a child was too hyper to have on your bed. He was also trained by your father to wake you up when you refused to get up.
>But now, you have Jack. He’s probably cool enough to sit still and sleep, but have no idea if he would like to sleep in the same bed as you.
>As you leave the bathroom figuring out what side to sleep on the bed, you find a sight that answers your question.
>Jack has already made himself comfortable and is already under the sheets, facing the wall.
>Well, looks like you don’t have to worry about anything.

>After you turn all the lights off and pull your curtains out a little to let some light in, you climb in bed next to Jack and pull the covers over you.
>The bed is cool and comfy and you feel your body relax as you ease in.
“Good night, Jack.”
>As you start to fall asleep, you hear Jack shift away from you. Guess he likes his space then.

>Even with the twin bed, there is still a whole lot of space between you and her.
>And speaking of space, your head is still swimming with worries. On top of that, you feel so alone even though Kate is right next to you.
>You can’t talk to her about anything, you can’t tell her how you feel right now, you can’t do anything!
>A deep sigh escapes as you sink into the bed in stress.
>Another sleepless night for you, and you can’t help but make small groan as you flop to the left.
>As you finish turning around, a barely lit fuzzy face with concern greets you.
>Her eyes wander around your face as she studies you. As you watch her, you see her shift from concern, to comfort, and then to… love.
>She starts to softly smile, and she moves up to you and reaches out. Her arms wrap around your back, and you feel yourself being pulled towards her.
>You don’t resist and you let her hug you, and you feel so...
>Relieved.
>You melt in her grasp, burying your face into the exposed part of her fuzzy chest.
>Her fur smells so clean, like freshly shampooed hair, with a hint of something you can’t even describe.
>Her hand then moves up to the back of your neck, and you feel her chin rest on top of your head.
>The combined heat of the blanket and her chest feels so warm, and your worries fade away as you lay here with Kate cuddling you.
>Almost in sync, you and Kate sighed as both of you relish in the cuddle.
>So this is what your dog feels every time you hug him. You’ve been taking his feelings for granted.
>As your eyes start to get heavy, Kate lets go of you and pushes you back.
>”You’re such a cuddler,” she cooed.

>She grabs you by the shoulders and turns you around, hugging you once again close to her.
>”Good night, Jack.”
>With that, Kate moves her arms around your stomach, and you close your eyes as you feel her chest slowly fall and rise behind you.

>You feel something warm on your face, and you groan as it moves up to your eyes.
>Now you remember why you closed the curtains in the first place. It was either total darkness in your room or an annoying sunbeam on your face.
>You attempt to flip over, but you feel your arm pinned under something.
>Your eyes open, squinting through the sunlight and you see Jack sleeping on your arm.
>That’s right, you let him sleep with you last night. You don’t want to wake him up though.
>Well, you're stuck here for all eternity then.