FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

[center][b]The World Was Destroyed, and I had to Fight for the Right to NOT be the Main Character[/b] Chapter 07 Someone Should have Asked More Questions.[/center] Waking up alone hurts. It’s not like I have reasons to complain. I sort of woke up when he left, and I didn’t ask him to stay. Not that I have any business asking him to stay, it was just sex. I breathe and swallow the pain. Day’s started and I have things to…. I’m sitting, looking out the back window at the pink sky, when I realize I don’t actually have anything to do. I might even have slept in. I guess they were right. Computers are the bane of good sleep. I put my pants on before throwing the sheet off. The quilt went to the side at some point during the night. Then the shirt goes on. “Lao Hu?” He pokes his head around the seat. “I’m going in to see if they have breakfast. Do you….” It’s strange how difficult the idea of unsummoning him is. “I’m going to unsummon the Jeep. Do you want to say in it, or come with me?” He steps between the seats. “Can you be left without supervision?” “Very funny.” I place him on my shoulder, close the Jeep and send it away. I should probably have made my bed. I’ll deal with that tonight. “You know. If this is how I’m going to travel, you should get a saddle so I’m more comfortable. A harness for me to hold on you be good. To guide you away from trouble.” “Someone’s forgetting who the driver is. Is there anything in the glove box already?” “My tools.” “You have tools?” “I am in charge of keeping the jeep running.” “I thought it would be through magic.” “They are magical tools. But I have to use them. I can just wave my arms around and make things happen.” I step inside the building, and Lady Lust is in front of me. With a snort and raised muzzle, she turns and walks off. Karl’s at a table with the male Quirr and female Boral, and I wave at him when he looks my way. His wave is perfunctory at best, and he’s back talking with them. Didn’t I tell him it was nothing more than sex? Why am I the one hurt that it’s exactly how he took it? You’d think that with my last relationship being over a decade old, I’d be used to this now. Yep, this is why I didn’t do hook ups. The food looks much like what was there yesterday. Smells fresh, so I don’t question if it’s the same or not. The plate is half full when I force myself to stop. It’s enough. I already ate more than I had to yesterday. I’d like to keep my waist line on the trim side. I sit between the male Capine and female Quirr. I almost have the food to my mouth when I remember politeness exist. “Are you okay?” I ask her. “Was she able to explain how your power works?” She shakes her head. “No. They do not have such abilities. But she was able to help me see where the information was on my form.” “I’m glad. I didn’t know we could see our power there. I didn’t see anything.” “That’s because you told me not to show it to you,” Lao Hu says. She looks at him in amazement. “I did not know we could have familiars.” “I’m a cheat to his cheat. A way to give him a bit more than what he’d get otherwise.” “You didn’t negotiate with your attendant?” the Capine says around me. “George, by the way.” He offers me a food covered hand. I look at it pointedly. “Sylvester.” “Sorry. No one with stores have cutlery yet.” Still not a reason to eat like a slob. “I fear that I am not so clever,” she said, looking at her food. “He explained what had happened. And I took it in as best as I could, but all I knew was gone. And he offered to seek refuge in other places.” She moved her food with a finger. “I am not learned. I was but a servant to a lowly lord. The man who attended me said I could have magic to help me in this new place, but I don’t know of magic. That is the things of the rich and learned. He said it wasn’t magic as I had heard of it. He asked what I wanted out of the world. I said wealth. He asked how did I want to acquire it? Merchants, I answered. All the merchants my lord met had more wealth than he did. So he said I could have a store, a shop of sorts, he explained. Then he asked what did I want to sell? And at a loss, I said I wanted to sell everything. Because how much more wealth would I be able to have if I sold all of that.” “You didn’t get that?” I ask. This is sounding like she got tricked. Which is nothing like how I was treated. “I…do not know. He gave me a Wall of Marts. But I didn’t understand his explanation of what it meant. Many marts along a wall?” George snorts. “Hey, have a bit of respect for her….” I look at her. “A Wall of Marts? You mean a Walmart?” “I…yes, I believe that is the word he used.” “You weren’t kidding when you said you wanted to sell everything,” George says, still snickering. “You know of that?” she asked, bewildered. “It’s a chain of stores back on Earth,” I say, kind of baffled. She’s clearly not from there. “Why would it be in chains?” I shake myself. “No, not in chains. A chain of them. Many of them? Look, it’s not important. Basically, Walmart is the largest shop in our world. You can get just about whatever you want at one of—at it. You have a shop that sells everything, alright.” Remembering what Karl said about his shop, I ask. “What did you pick to sell?” “Bread. Everyone always needs bread.” Her expression falls. “But I did it wrong.” “What do you mean?” She brings up an interface, and I catch a glimpse of a lot of items. Way more than Karl had, which isn’t surprising. But it’s too quick for me to work out what they are, and she has a loaf of sandwich bread on the table; the Walmart brand. “It’s wrong.” “No, that’s bread,” George says. Except I have an idea what she means. I’ve been making my own bread for half a decade now. Store-bought bread no longer tastes anything like bread. “Back on Earth, that’s what we call bread.” I try to remember anything of my attempts at finding palatable breads. “Do you have any rye breads in there? Those might have a closer taste to the kind of bread you’re used to.” She searched. “I have some with rye in the name.” “Try one of them.” “I am only allowed to take one item a day without paying for it. My privilege as shopkeeper. I have to pay for more, and I am without money, or ways to earn any.” “Either of you have a need for this?” George asked, taking the loaf of bread. “Nope.” He’s welcome to— “Hey, Arnold!” The male Boral raises his head from the three plates before him. George throws the loaf. “A taste of home!” The Boral catches it, looked at it. “Where did you get Walmart bread?” he asks dismayed. “The little lady here has a Walmart store. Bread aisle only for now.” “Alan! I need a loan.” “Come on, you don’t need—” The Quirr steps back before Arnold barrels into him. “Really? You’re going to not loan me money? You’re the one with the bank power. Cash out.” “How much?” he asks with a sigh. “A hundred bucks.” “They don’t have US funds here.” “Then whatever the equivalent is. You do the translation.” “It’s conversion.” “Whatever, just give me my money.” With a roll of the eyes, the Quirr puts his hand over Arnold’s cupped hands, does a sprinkling motion, and two gray coins fall into the Boral’s hands. Then he’s before us and drops the coins on the table. Silver is what they are. “You, Ma’am, are a lifesaver. Please show me what you have.” Unsure, she turns the screen so he can see it, and he scrolls. “Oh, you have bagels. I am so going to miss those. Do you have donuts?” “That’s the pastry aisle,” I say. “Maybe desert, depends how picky you are.” “Should I get that next?” she asks. “Yes,” Arnold says, tapping something, then hands her one coin. She gives him a bag of Walmart bagel and the silver turns into copper coins, along with an iron one. “No, you shouldn’t,” I say. “Go for the bakery next. If it’s divided, the bread section. Those breads are better. Nothing like homemade, but not filled with chemicals.” He taps something, and she hands him another bag, and one of the copper in her hand turns to iron. The stamp is different, too, but I can’t make out detail. He keeps shopping until all she has left of his two silver coins are three iron ones, but smaller than the previous ones. “You’re going to make yourself sick eating all that,” I say. He snorts, walking away with his arms full. “You don’t know how gluttony works. The more I eat, the better I get at eating.” You know what. It’s his health. I’ll just look after mine. “Thank you,” she say in awe after he leaves, and I realized she’s looking at me. “Oh, you’re welcome.” She offers me the three small iron coins. “Don’t,” a severe woman’s voice says, “give him that.” I am not surprised to see the other female Quirr now standing behind us. “But he helped me. I now have money. I must repay him.” “No, you don’t.” “Love you too, Yamiltary,” I state, reaching for food and realizing my plate is empty. My stomach complains. Deal with it, I reply. She glares at me, then her expression softens as she crouches next to my…still nameless companion. I need to get better at asking for names. I don’t think I can drift through this place just picking them up as others say them. “Britania, you told me that your….” She motions to the screen. “Is linked to your attribute.” “That’s what the unlock thing says.” Britania brings up a new screen, but Yamiltary lowers her hand. “Your attribute is greed. That mean you have to keep your money. It’s yours and no one else’s.” “But I must repay help rendered. That is—” “No, you don’t. Not to him.” “Britania,” I say, because I doubt she’ll accept just being told how things are. “It’s okay. Keep it. Use it to try some of the other breads. I’m just glad I was able to help, and it’s George who—” I turn to have him take his part of the gratitude, but the Capine’s gone. He’s talking with Tamika. “Don’t worry about me. I’m sure that at some point, you’ll be able to do something to help me out.” The amount of suspicion Yamiltary glares at me would have made all this worth lying about. What a scheming world she must live in. Britania places a hand on mine. “Then, may you have Yovary’s blessing.” I almost pull my hand away. I so don’t need some other whatever that is paying me any attention. She removes it and faces Yamiltary, and I discreetly shake my hand hoping that blessing flies off. “Alright, Kids,” Tamika says. “Take your seats, go for seconds, third, or whatever number you’re at if you feel like it. Because I’m about to tell you about our wonderful city of Makbarim.”