FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

When Leon had fallen asleep, he was comfortably embraced by a warm blanket from toe to shoulders. It was a good feeling to be able to sleep in such a comfy object, letting his worries drift away through his sleep. He didn't dream of anything in particular, just a blank state of sleep where his body could rest. But during his sleep, he suddenly felt very cold, feeling shifts of wind blowing against his body.

He tried to ignore it and just cover himself more in his blanket, but when he tried to grab it he found nothing covering him. The boy grunted and extended his arm further, or at least trying to, finding nothing but air. He finally gave up and relented to opening his eyes to find that warm piece of cloth, but instead of finding himself deep in his dark room, all he could see was blue and the feeling of sunshine bathing his body. Not exactly getting what he was seeing he looked down, and instead of seeing the usual cold white floor he was used to, instead he saw ground, but not beneath his feet, but instead thousands of meters below him. He was free falling.

Adrenaline kicking in, making his whole body feel wide awake in an instant, his head was filled with fear and desperation. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed from the bottom of his lungs, flailing his arms and legs around in the hopes of grabbing onto anything to make him stop, but there was nothing but air. As he kept screaming, the distance between himself and the ground kept getting shorter and shorter.

His desperation only grew, his blood getting colder and colder as he could see the surface getting closer, but as his hopes were starting to wane, he noticed something. Right beneath him, at the direction he was falling, he could see a huge reflection of light shining against his sight. He knew what that meant, a body of water. With the last of his consciousness going into overdrive, Leon curled himself into a ball and braced for impact, and just seconds later, his body dove deep into the lake.

The sharp sound of wind cutting through his ears was replaced by the muffled sensation of water, completely distorting any sound going towards his ears, but that wasn't the first thing he noticed. The first thing he did realize was the fact he was deep into the water, and he could not breathe. Once again, adrenaline filled every centimeter of his body and he desperately flapped his arms, trying to gain distance towards the surface of the water.

He didn't get to breath in before getting dumped underwater, so he had very little air left, so using all his body strength to propel him upward before his limited supply ran out. It was frustrating, but even though he knew he was a decent swimmer, he was getting up slower than he'd like, but that didn't stop him. With his throat feeling tighter and slowly getting light-headed, he finally managed to put his head outside the water, getting a single loud and prolonged breath, filling his lungs with sweet oxygen.

But just as soon as he was feeling safe, another problem surfaced. He tried staying afloat with the beat of his arms, but for some odd reason he couldn't, so all he managed to do was flail aimlessly around as he tried looking around for ground to swim towards. There was an attempt at that, but the result was him feeling his head slowly getting dragged back down, the water covering most of his chin at that point.

He flailed and struggled, but his instincts would not listen, and his body couldn't stay above for much longer. He managed to draw in breath one last time before he was engulfed once more. Once again he was brought under, the water once again muffling everything, not letting him hear anything anymore. As he tried to get back up once again, he could feel the strain and lack of energy hitting his body, and his head was getting light. His air was running out, and his vision was fading as well. With his senses getting duller and duller, so did his attempts to escape. Soon enough, he was going limp as darkness slowly covered all of him.

That was, until he felt a sudden feeling on his back, before getting yanked back up, giving him back that precious air for Leon to breathe in. Instead of staying in place like before, he was being dragged towards somewhere, not being able to properly look with how weak he was and by being pulled by his back.

Minutes passed before he could feel a solid surface. Finally, after however long Leon was in constant danger, the adrenaline wore off and he could feel his body tired and aching from everything that just happened. He couldn't muster up the strength to get up, resigning to just lay there and breathe as much as he possibly could.

"H-Hey, are you okay?" A stuttering voice came from behind him, drawing his attention for a moment, but from his position he couldn't see who was talking to him. It took him a solid minute to gather up some strength to reply.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay..." He said heavily, clearly still feeling the wind of danger on his back, still on edge even though he finally found a safe place to rest. "You saved my life, thank you so much." A slight smile escaped his lips, a sign of clear gratitude towards the noble soul that rescued him.

"N-Not at all! I-I just saw something falling out of the sky. And when I arrived I saw you almost drowning. A-Anyone decent would have done the same." The stranger stuttered in a very shy manner, panting a bit as well from just carrying someone off the water.

"Nonsense! I'd be dead if not for you. You're my hero!" He smiled a bit, enjoying the soft sensation of grass against his back, a much more comfortable sensation than a bottomless lake. "Just let me get up so I can thank you properly." Leon shifted his arms back, oddly losing some of his balance while doing so, before finally getting on his two legs. "There we go, now, I wanna thank you very muuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" As he turned to properly thank the one who saved him, his eyes finally landed on the person who did it, but said person was not a human, but a brown-furred creature on all fours.

"W-What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" The screaming startled him but the being approached his body and began sniffing around, to see if he could feel the smell of blood or any injury on him that he might have overlooked.

"W-What are you?! How can you talk?" He disengaged, taking several steps back until he could feel his heels touching the tip of the water, wetting them, giving a sensation similar to wet socks. His eyes were trying to make sense of the situation, and why that speaking beast looked so familiar to him for some reason.

"What do you mean by what I am? I'm an Eevee! I'm pretty sure my species isn't that rare, right?" The Eevee tilted his head to the side, not understanding what the fuss was about or why he would be so startled by something so mundane.

"A-An Eevee?" The cogs inside Leon's head started to turn, and yet more seemed to falter as this information was way too bizarre to fit his mind. "Like, a Pokémon? How can a Pokémon talk, or exist for that matter?"

The question made the brown-furred Pokémon squint his eyes in actual confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? All Pokémon can talk, you should know that!" He approached the confused Leon and grabbed his hand with his paw, giving the sensation of fur touching fur. "You're a Pokémon just like me, right? I don't understand what's wrong." He pulled the yellow-furred paw closer to him, examining to see if anything was amiss.

But that inspection made Leon's blood run cold. Where he could feel his hand, instead of seeing his usual white-skinned hand, instead there was a paw, completely covered with light-yellow fur.

As he couldn't understand what was going on, he stepped back again and felt the water once more, and instinctively turned around to avoid falling back into it, but as he did, he looked down and saw a reflection of a Pokémon. No, a reflection of himself.

He wasn't looking at a human visage, but that of a Pichu, with pointed ears and tail, a pair of rose cheeks and wide-eyes. That information began settling within his mind as he tried to make sense of it all. He had woken up not in his room, but sky-diving, only to fall into a lake and realize he didn't have his human body.

And then it clicked. It made him a bit scared but he had to face the reality. Leon was no longer a human, but a Pichu, a real Pokémon saved by another Pokémon, both of which could clearly communicate with each other.

There was too much for his mind to process, so only one sentence escaped his lips. "What the heck!?"

He took a few steps back from the lake, letting all that new information and reality sink in. That was unbelievable, he thought Pokémon was just some gaming franchise that people liked to play. He could never even begin to think they were actually real and could talk just like him.

"I'm... a Pokémon...?" Although the idea was slowly settling into his mind, it still felt really weird, especially feeling how much shorter his arms and legs felt compared to his old human body, which explained why he couldn't swim at all just a few moments ago. "T-That's so weird..." He also realized that his voice was much higher pitched than it used to be. Sure, he didn't have the deepest or manliest voice, but it was still quite weird hearing it come from himself.

"Hey, are you okay? You've been staring at your body for a while now." The worried Eevee behind him nudged the Pichu with his nose, who had been examining himself for several minutes now, trying to grab his attention.

"..." It was one heck of a weird situation, but he had no idea what and how any of that happened, so he had to rely on his savior for now. "Hey... Would it be weird if I told you I'm not a Pokémon...?"

The Eevee giggled with the idea, too absurd for him to even be serious about it. "Haha. You silly Pichu. Of course you're a Pokémon, just look at yourself!" He took a few steps until he was just beside the Pichu.

"N-No, what I mean is..." Leon rubbed his arm, not exactly sure how to explain to him the situation. The more he thought, the more his head scrambled, so he figured it'd be best to just come clean with it. "The thing is... I didn't use to be a Pokémon. I was a human."

The moment he said that, the Eevee's eyes went wide, and the Pichu could clearly see his fur standing on edge just from him saying that. "W-What?" The surprise took him hard. He didn't know what to say.

"I'm a human! Or at least I was..."

Although he was very surprised, the brown Pokémon took a deep breath to calm himself down, lest scare the one he just saved away. "R-Really? Y-You're a human?" What was once a good amount of personal space between the two, was now him getting so close so he could clearly examine all the details on the yellow mouse, finding it astounding. "You look just like a regular Pichu." He said that not to counter his claim, but just noting how weird it was for someone that used to be human to now look like any other Pokémon.

Leon blushed a little from how close the Eevee was and how he could feel him sniffing around his fur. He tried to keep composed, but that didn't last long, because he couldn't contain himself and started touching around the Pichu's belly, arms and other parts of his body, which led to a very important discovery that day. Leon's new body was very ticklish.

"PfffHAHAHAHAHA!" The feeling of his new acquaintance prodding around and innocently touching and examining his body made tingles of the funny energy to coarse through his body, not being able to contain his laugh. "P-PLEASE...THIS TICKLES SO MUHAHAHAHAHA!". His eyes watered, the feeling too strong for him to properly resist or fight against.

It took him a second, but he did eventually catch on that his curiosity turned into a kind of torture to the mouse. "O-Oh, sorry! I got carried away..." He flustered and pulled himself back, giving the Pichu the space he needed as he panted from the overexertion of laughing too hard. "I get a bit carried away sometimes, my bad hahaha..." He rubbed the back of his head with his paw, laughing a bit.

"Haha... I-It's okay..." Leon slowly managed to recover his breath, his eyes getting back to the first Pokémon he ever met. "I don't think I caught your name, by the way. Mine's Leon." He reached out his arm towards his savior, smiling brightly as he did whenever he made a new friend.

"Oh, right! My name's Dylan. Pleasure to meet you, Leon!" Even in his four legs, he had a good enough balance to raise one of his arms to grab his paw, shaking it meekly. And although very faintly, Dylan's cheeks were blushing a bit, but not enough to be noticeable through his thin coat of fur.

The two shook their hands, looking into each other's eyes with newfound confidence and respect. For how beautiful the scene was, it was interrupted by a natural consequence of all that happened so far. "Achoo!"

Leon sneezed, and the sneeze made him realize he still wasn't exactly dry, and he was feeling a bit cold. Instinctively, he hugged himself to try and retain some of his heat to himself. "W-wow... It's kind of freezing right now, isn't it?" He forced a laugh as his body began to shiver.

Dylan started worrying, as he noticed that the sun was going to set soon, and it would get even colder with the fall of the night. Concerned about his new friend, and ignoring how embarrassing it would be, he coiled around the Pichu, covering most of his upper and lower body in his warm fur. "L-Look, my house isn't very far from here. You clearly don't have anywhere else to go, so w-why don't you come with me?" Dylan asked, turning away his face to avoid letting Leon notice how red it was.

Although the newcomer didn't notice the attempt of subterfuge by Dylan, he did smile at such a generous offer by someone he had just met, and had a very positive impression about. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to." He smiled, getting comfy between that warm brown fur as the two began their march towards the Eevee's house.

It was mostly a quiet walk, just the two Pokémon walking alongside one another as the resplendent rays of sunshine slowly faded away by the end of the afternoon, giving way to a warm and serene orange sky, to the veil of night slowly taking root, bringing with it the serene visage of uncountable amounts of stars in the sky.

As Leon was starting to wonder how much longer they'd walk for, after exiting through a thick forest path, what he saw was nothing short of unbelievable.

Right before him, he saw an enormous mountain, much bigger than any he'd seen in the human world, standing right against the edge of the ocean, with wave after wave hitting against the solid rock before breaking into foam. But what made him awe like that in the first place was the shape of it. Right at the peak, instead of an usual pointed shape, the formation of it resembled a giant shark, with several rows of teeth showing out of its open mouth.

Dylan was stopped as he felt his companion stopping in his tracks, looking up at the incredible view. He giggled a bit before looking up at it as well. "You like it?"

"Of course I do! This place is incredible!!!" The Pichu half-shouted, his eyes were glittering like the stars above the two of them, fascinated by the shapes and personality that place had. "I can't believe you live somewhere this cool!!!"

"Oh! Oh no no, that was my grandparent's home, no one lived there in ages." The Eevee beckoned the Pichu before pointing towards the beach below it, where a humble but still quite-comfy looking house stood, with ear-shaped chimneys and windows that resembled eyes being the most attractive features. "That's my home! I know, not as glorious as the one up there, but it's been where I've lived for years now."

Now that Leon took a better look at it, the place resembled the shape of an Eevee somewhat, definitely styled after Dylan if he'd dare to guess. "Hahaha, that place looks very cozy as well! Must be nice living so close to the ocean." He scratched the back of his head, trying to ignore the small blunder just now.

"It really is. There's nothing better than to wake up to the sound of the waves and look out the window to see that beautiful place first thing in the morning. It gives me good memories of them..." Although he sounded happy through most of it, Leon could feel a drop of melancholy in that last bit, looking with a bit of worry towards the Eevee. Dylan quickly realized the eyes on him and shook his head to dust off the feeling. "Oh, nothing to worry about. We can talk about it later, after you've got a good bath!" He smiled once again, beckoning Leon to follow him towards the inside of the house.

Leon promptly followed, and by entering the open door to the inside, the sight made him feel cozy. The place wasn't fancy or anything of the sort, the walls and floor being made out of brown wood instead of cement or bricks like where he used to live at. The place wasn't big or anything, but it had enough space for two or three Pokémon of their size to walk around and not feel cramped by the space or furniture around them.

As the Pichu closed the door behind him, he got to take in the ambience a bit more. The living room had two couches and a table just to his right, a set of kitchen-like tools at the far opposite of the entrance, a little hammock hung up on his left, and two doors at the west wall, most likely leading to the bathroom and bedroom.

"I hope the place isn't too messy, I forgot to clean up before leaving today haha..." Dylan said a bit embarrassed, but still making sure he was smiling to his guest.

"Nah, this place is really sweet. I can definitely see you living here." He smiled but still was hugging himself, a bit cold after staying out in the open for so long after the impromptu dive he got to make.

The Eevee blushed a bit at his comment, happy for someone appreciating his home. But before getting too distracted with it, he shook his head to clear up any stray thoughts. "A-Anyway, you shouldn't go take that bath. You must be freezing right now." Leon only nodded as he was led towards the bathroom door, which he opened for himself. "If you need anything just let me know!" He said before closing the door, leaving Leon alone in there.

The bathroom was very tidy, with a mirror, a sink, a couple of towers folded at the corner, and the bathtub. It was just right for his current small size, just having to hop to get right into the tub before opening the knob, letting the faucet fill it with warm water.

"Aaaaaah..." The Pichu nearly melted into that feeling, finally getting a moment's rest after such an eventful day, one he never believed he'd have on the prior night. As his body warmed up and he cleaned up some of his dirty spots, he got to take in all that had happened so far, and for the realization to truly set in. "I really became a Pokémon, huh?" He looked down at his paws and body, mostly covered by the still body of water.

He wasn't exactly fond of his old life, and he'd likely not get to meet his old friends again anyway, so maybe that wasn't so bad? Thoughts like that crossed his mind. But to completely break that line of thought, another came in to rouse his curiosity. "Do I still have my bits like a human?"

It was an odd question, but after getting a new body, it was more than natural to feel curious if things were going to be the same down there, being a different species and all. He explored a bit between his legs, realizing how much fur there was around that part, most likely to hide his bits when not needed. When his fingers hovered, he noticed the distinct lack of a penis or balls like a human male would have, instead he found an entrance, very similar to a human female's vagina, or at least he thought from what he remembered from sex ed classes.

"Huh. I guess male Pokémon have different kinds of bits compared to humans, huh? That's very weird." He didn't particularly care for it, that was just another thing he was gonna have to get used to by becoming a Pokémon. It was already weird enough having such short arms, so having different genitalia shouldn't be that much weirder.

As Leon soaked into the warmth of the bath, he explored himself all over, trying to get a feel better for how his body was and the reach of each member so he'd avoid another situation like this afternoon. It made the bath way longer than it needed to be, but after roughly 15 minutes, he jumped out of the tub and unplugged the hole, letting the water flow out. He did wonder where it'd go, since this world didn't seem to have underground plumbing and the sort. Well, another thing he should ask Dylan.

He started drying himself with one of the towels nearby, and now his mind turned towards his new Eevee friend. To save a complete stranger like that, not to mention jump into the maw of danger while he was struggling to save himself, that was nothing short of heroic. He felt genuine gratitude for him, and wanted to know more about the Eevee. Heck, a really cute Eevee, he thought to himself. Blushing and giggling a bit from that thought, he finished toweling his fur, heading back to the living room, where Dylan seemed to be preparing something in the small stove.

"Sniff Sniff. Wow, that smells good." Leon couldn't help but compliment it, getting closer to Dylan while he observed the several kinds of berries and veggies inside the pot. "What is it?"

"Oh! It's just some Aspear soup with some Occa berries. Heard from my grandma that it warms you right up!" He said confidently, much more than while he brought him here, while using the metal utensil to swirl the soup, letting the smell cover the entirety of the room.

"Well, I already feel warmed up, but I'm sure being a bit more cozy doesn't hurt anybody!" He lightly bumped his shoulder into Dylan's, not nearly strong enough to push him, but certainly quick enough to startle the poor thing.

"Kyaaa!" Was all that Leon heard before saw how red Dylan's face looked. He thought it was kind of adorable. "S-Sorry. Not used to physical contact." He forced out a laugh, trying to play it off as something silly.

"Oh! My bad, I'm... still not used to Pokémon customs and all." The Pichu took a step back, allowing the Eevee to have some personal space.

"Oh no, i-it's okay." He closed around half of the gap Leon had made, not wanting to let his guest feel left out. "It's normal for Pokémon to be affectionate and physical with each other, this is just a me thing. Not much experience with it." He said as he gave the final touches to the soup, letting both the ingredients and his own emotions stir for a moment.

Leon could feel he touched a complicated subject, feeling a bit guilty for bringing the mood down. So, to try and improve the situation, he looked around for a moment until he noticed some wooden furniture on the opposite side of the kitchen space, opening up the drawers to find several spoons, forks and knives in the top section, and several cuts of cloth to decorate the table in the lower sections. "Hey Dylan, you want me to set up the table?" He asked confidently, puffing up his chest to look trustworthy.

"O-Oh, if you don't mind, it'd be lovely. Dinner should be ready any second now."

With the go ahead from Dylan, Leon grabbed everything he needed from inside the drawers. In no time, the table was decorated with a wonderful tablecloth, covering all of the table to avoid any spillings on it, as well as some thinner layered ones underneath the bowls, accompanied by two small and cute spoons, ready to be used. "Table is done!"

"So is the food." Dylan put some wool mittens around his paws and balanced himself on his back paws, wobbling a bit until he carried the metal pot from the stove towards the table.

All it took was one look and Leon was practically salivating. "W-Wow, this looks so good!!!" He squealed, accentuated by his high-pitched voice. Noticing the excitement, Dylan offered him a ladle. He couldn't handle the sudden need to eat and took it, filling his bowl in no time flat. But even if he was eager to eat, he still decided to wait for Dylan to prepare his bowl, not starting until they both had enough.

With both containers filled with delicious goodness, both closed their eyes and said. "Thanks for the meal." They bowed before digging in.

The moment the spoon hit the rodent's tongue, he felt as if he was in heaven. It was delicious! Warm but not too hot, neither too spicy and the distinct use of berries helped the flavor mingle and transform into something wonderful. "So goooooooooooood." His face melted into a silly smile, completely overtaken by his taste palate.

Dylan smiled, happy that his new friend enjoyed what he cooked up in such a short time. He himself was proud of the taste, since it had been quite a while since he last prepared this recipe. A long while in fact, back when...

The strength in Dylan's smile faded a bit, thankfully not enough for Leon to notice, so he tried to force that thought away and continue eating. But it was easy to go past it, with how good the soup tasted, it easily washed away some of his intruding thoughts.

After swallowing down another spoonful of soup, Leon thought it was as great a time as any to try and understand the situation better. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you some questions? There's a lot I don't get about this world, Pokémon, heck, pretty much everything."

"Oh! Sure, sure. I'm not the most scholarly type, but if there's anything I can tell you I'd be happy to." The Eevee smiled back at him, comforting him under such a complicated predicament.

"So... First of all, do all Pokémon talk? I just wanna make sure to not freak out whenever I meet someone new." He asked before leading the spoon from the bowl to his mouth once again.

"Funnily enough: not exactly. I'd say most Pokémon can talk and think properly, but there's around a fifth of us that prefer to live a more, "feral" way you could say. They live in the Mystery Dungeons and it is very rare for any of them to ever leave those places."

"Huh. So that means almost everyone living outside these dungeons are like us?"

"I mean... Yes, but not quite. How do I explain this..." Dylan gulped more of his bowl's contents as he tried to process the information into something Leon could understand easily. "Both of us are good, right? Well, I'd say most Pokémon are also good, but even outside the dungeons, there are a lot of intelligent ones that... take advantage of others..." His tone seemed somber, akin to that moment earlier the Pichu noticed as well. Dylan shook his head quickly. "Anyway, the short answer is mostly."

"I-I see..." Noticing the theme was not quite something his host seemed to be enjoying, he tried pushing it to another direction. "H-How about buildings? Are there groups of buildings next to each other or are they mostly alone like your house?"

"I mean, there is a town nearby if that's what you mean, not to mention several bigger cities all around the continents."

"Hmmm... So that means civilization here isn't that far off from human society." That was good to know, that meant there was some sense of order here, which brought him to his next question. "Are there laws? Do people who do bad stuff get punished for it?"

"Oh definitely! Anyone who robs or does something very bad gets a target on their head and any explorer teams from the guild hunt them down! It's awesome!" Dylan seemed particularly excited about it.

That enthusiasm certainly rubbed off on Leon as well. "The Guild? What is that?"

"You don't know?!?! It's the place where the most valiant and daring explorers and adventurers gather for all sorts of things. Exploring new dungeons, hunting down criminals, gathering rare materials for construction, even seeking out medicine! They're the best!!!" The Eevee got so excited his back paws stood on the chair as his front ones balanced him on the table, giving the Pichu easier access to how much Dylan's eyes were glittering like stars from the excitement, not to mention how fast his tail was wagging. He looked very adorable like that.

"I take it you really look up to the guild, huh?" Leon said with a coy smile.

The comment made Dylan realize how he was behaving. He forced a cough and sat down again. "You could say that..." He tried to pretend it wasn't that big a deal, but the Pichu knew it wasn't the case with how much his tail was still wagging.

"Mmhmmm~." Leon found himself happy whenever Dylan seemed to be in a good mood, it made him all warm inside. He grabbed another spoonful of soup and swallowed it down, delighted with the taste. After gulping it down, another question came to mind. "Does... the guild pay well? I don't have any money with me, and I can't live on your kindness forever, so if their pay is good enough, maybe I could join and make a living there?" He asked a bit worried, knowing that if not for his Eevee friend, he'd probably be starving by now, and that he had to fix those circumstances right away.

"I mean... They aren't very strict on their hiring, and their pay isn't bad either, granted you don't break any rules or do unsavory stuff. But..." He paused to eat the last of his soup. "It is kinda dangerous, not to mention you'd have to explore the world and be careful with what you do and where you go."

"You have a point..." The argument left him a bit crestfallen, knowing that he'd most likely get himself killed or fall to another awful fate. He could never manage to do that alone.

But as if in sync, Dylan stepped in his train of thought. "But... If you weren't alone, perhaps..." The Eevee simply smiled.

Leon's eyes rose and lit up. "You mean you'd join me?" It was the Pichu's turn to get excited, his own thunder-shaped tail wagging quite fast. "But... don't you have another job? Would you really be okay with doing it with me?"

"Haha... I'm actually kinda unemployed right now, and I was considering joining them sooner or later. Let's just say it'd be more fun that way." He stepped down from the chair, when he was suddenly intercepted by the yellow rodent.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Leon rushed and hugged his new friend. "It's a pleasure teaming up with you, teammate!"

Dylan blushed profusely, with the only saving grace being Leon couldn't see his deep-red face because of the hug. Too embarrassed, but still excited, he just whispered. "T-The pleasure is all mine..."

The hug went on for a bit too long due to the Pichu's excitement, but soon enough, he took a hint and broke the contact. "Oops, sorry, forgot you don't like being touched, my bad."

"N-No, it's okay. J-Just warn me next time you plan to do it, okay?" He turned around, facing the remaining door opposite to Leon. "Well, it's getting late and we should have a busy day tomorrow. Do you want me to prepare a makeshift bed for you or do you prefer the hammock?"

Leon turned around to stare at the sturdy cloth hanging from two sides of the wall, lightly rocking due to a breeze coming from the open windows. "Hmmmm, I never slept in a hammock before, it might be a fun experience!" He smiled towards his host, assuring him it was more than okay.

"Alright. Well, please knock on my door and let me know if you need anything, okay?" Leon agreed and both of them headed to the kitchen to clean the leftover dishes. After that was done, both waved to each other before Dylan closed the door to his bedroom, leaving him alone in the living room.

He didn't go right away to bed, instead contemplating a bit from behind the window how different the sky looked compared to his old life. He could barely see any stars when he was human, pollution and smog leaving the sky borderline barren, but here, everything seemed to shine. The sky was bright, the water, even if just as mortal as back on Earth, was fresh and soothing, the forests were plenty and bountiful, and Dylan...

He shook his head, feeling his heartbeat getting faster and his body warmer. Although he was in a brand new world with so many new kinds of wonders, what seemed to be holding his most interest was Dylan. He was kind, he was courageous, he was fun, he was adorable, he had beautiful eyes, he was cute, he had a pleasing and calming voice and he wanted to be near him.

Leon laid on the hammock, feeling it rocking harder now with his weight, and stuffed the pillow behind him. "Damnit Leon. You've never been interested in anyone your entire life, but now that you should care about what happened to you, you instead focus on a cute guy..." He sighed heavily, slightly shifting himself under the thin blanket he borrowed.

"Can't believe I got a crush..." The rodent's eyes were fixated on the moon as his thoughts became blurry and he could feel his limbs getting warmer. His eye lids struggled to stay apart, and he was drifting off to sleep.

"I hope he feels the same..." He mumbled before his chest rose and fell, sleeping like a newborn that just arrived into the world.