Well, my boxers didn’t fit Kiki. So, he’s getting his wish and going commando under the sweater. I unlock the door to my apartment and open it, letting him out first. We have the same shoe size, thankfully, so I gave him some baby blue converse to wear…
He really wears baby blue well… I bet he wears pink good too…
STOP, GET OUT OF MY HEAD LINGERIE!
Ahem. After he walks through the door, I close it and lock it behind him. His eyes widen as he looks around the inside of the apartment. I smile, feeling warm at his adorable reactions. I take his hand and walk with him into the elevator.
He looks around it confused about why we’re in a giant box. I chuckle and ask him,
“Can you press the button next to the number one?”
He looks at the panel and narrows his eyes, looking at all of the different buttons for a few seconds. Then, I slap myself in the forehead.
“Sorry. This button. Can you press this button?”
I point at the button for the first floor. He nods his head,
“Mhm! Gotcha! The number one button!”
He presses the button and gasps when it lights up. He grabs my shirt and pulls me in,
“Oh my gosh! What magic is that!? Wait, you said there isn’t any magic though? Is there a little fire inside of that?”
I chuckle and shrug my shoulders,
“That’s something called electricity. I may be a magical genius, but science isn’t my strong suit. I think it actually does have to do with heat, though…”
I can’t remember how lightbulbs work, honestly. I think something about heating up a wire? At least, that’s how fluorescent bulbs work. No clue how LED’s work at all.
Kiki seems satisfied with this answer, nodding his head before jumping as the elevator moves.
“NNNNYAAAAAAAA! IT’S GONNA EAT US! THE BUILDING IS GONNA EAT US!”
I snort and pet his head while reassuring him,
“Haha, no, baby. The elevator is moving us down. It’s bringing us to the ground so we don’t have to use stairs.”
I soothe him, as I can see that his ears are standing up straight and his tail is puffed up. Naturally, I can see through the spell. I’m the one that made it, after all. I kiss his cheek and rub his back.
“You know, people in this world are scared of elevators too. They can be scary things! But, you have me here with you. Even if the entire building fell down on top of us, I’d still be able to protect you, baby.”
I cup his cheek and give him a quick kiss on the lips, which helps him calm down. He nods his head and holds my hand, leaning his head on my shoulder the rest of the way down. When the doors open, he practically sprints out and lets out a loud sigh of relief.
“Haaaaah… I thought I was gonna be a building’s hamburger… Gosh, I’m still such a kitten…”
I lean into him and say,
“You were very brave, Kiki. Not everyone would have taken that so well. See! You didn’t even shed a tear!”
He looks down and thinks for a second before nodding his head, a new fire in his eyes as he looks back up.
“You’re right! I’m super brave!”
I giggle and nod my head,
“Mhm. My brave little knight.”
He smiles up at me and walks with me as we leave the building.
As they leave… A figure walks out of the portal inside Arty’s bedroom… they sniff the air, looking around the strange room with confusion.
“Hmm?”
Their voice, despite their not-so obviously male body, was high-pitched and feminine. They followed their nose all the way to the kitchen, their singular ear flicking as the sound of someone walking upstairs hits it. They flinch and look around frantically.
After making sure they’re alone, they walk over to the kitchen and open a cabinet…
“Hehe… Jackpot!”
Kiki looks around in awe at the massive buildings around us. His face is beaming with a big, toothy grin as he walks around, almost skipping. I giggle and call out to him,
“Haha, don’t go too far! It might look safe compared to your place, but this city can still be dangerous!”
He nods his head and calls out,
“Kaaaay!”
He skips back over and holds my hand, leaning into me and nuzzling into my arm. He points to a car and asks me,
“Hey, Arty, what’s that?”
I answer,
“That’s called a car. It’s basically like a horseless carriage. It moves using an engine! So, more science stuff!”
He nods his head and looks up, freezing and pulling my arm frantically,
“A-Arty! Arty! We gotta hide! I-it’s a dragon!”
I look at where he’s pointing and see an airplane. I have to stop myself from laughing, and pat his head,
“*snort* No, silly. That’s an airplane. Remember, magic doesn’t exist here?”
He blushes and nods his head,
“Right… Still… What’s an airplane do?”
The majority of our walk is just me describing different things to him. He was really curious about every little thing about this planet. The people, the food, the culture. He was really, really happy when we first found a food truck. He smelled it from over a block and a half away.
“*sniff… sniff…* Arty… That food smells delicious…”
I nod my head, slowly starting to smell it too. Then, I see it. It’s an Ethiopian food truck that I used to get all the time. They were on my way to work, so I’d get Firfir on my way there. It’s been a while since I’ve had that… Though, I dunno if Kiki would like it… I guess I could test it on him. We could share a bowl with a mild sauce.
I pat his back and ask him,
“You wanna try something?”
He looks at me with wide eyes and nods his head wildly,
“Yes! Yes! Pleeeeeeease?!”
I pet his head and ruffle his hair a bit before getting in line. He groans with a cute nya while fixing his hair. When it’s our time, I ask the lady behind the counter,
“Firfir be-tinishu berbere, Ibakish.”
“Firfir with mild spice, please.”
The lady behind the counter looks at me shocked and puts a hand to her chest,
“Woy! Amarigna tiwqallih ende?”
“Woah! You know Amharic?”
…
Huh. So that wasn’t limited to the other world, huh? I guess I now know every language. I have allspeak! Fuck you Odin!
I nod my head to her and say,
“Of course! How else would I know exactly what to order?”
She laughs out loud and starts packaging the food. She tells me,
“How do you normally like your Firfir? I see you have your boyfriend with you, so I’m guessing you’re sharing?”
I nod my head,
“I normally go all the way with mine, but I don’t know his tolerance for spice or sour.”
She hands over a to-go box and says,
“One moment. I’ll make you some on the house.”
I go to refuse, but she stops me before I can say anything, as she’s already put it into a box. I chuckle and shake my head before saying,
“Thank you very much.”
She pats my hand as I take the small box from her before telling me,
“I put a small amount of a dish called ‘Tibs’ in there for you to try. Thank you for stopping by!”
I smile and nod before taking Kiki some place to sit. We find a bench in a nearby park and start eating. The second he puts it in his mouth, his eyes light up with stars and he happily chews it,
“Mmmmmmm! Sho goooooood! Arty! How does this taste so good?!”
I giggle as I take a bite of mine,
“Years of practice and a love for cooking!”
I have to admit, this spicy firfir is better than the one I used to get. Maybe I’m just finally able to taste it for real. Kiki looks between me and my box. I look at him and say,
“If you think you can take it, give it a try. It’s pretty sour, baby.”
His tail wags as I finish speaking. He scoops some onto his fork and immediately puts it into his mouth. He has a different reaction this time, though.
“Urgh… So sour… How do you like this, Arty?”
I bat his forehead playfully and say,
“Don’t talk bad about people’s food! I’ve always liked sour stuff. To be honest, this isn’t even that sour, or that spicy. Compared to some of the stuff I eat, this is super mild. Still! Now you know! You don’t really like sour stuff!”
He pouts at me for the pat but nods his head,
“True. I also know Arty is super sour!”
I lean over and nibble his ear in retaliation, causing him to yelp,
“Nya! How dare youuuuuuuu!”
He flicks his ear, slapping my face with it with a huff while eating more of his food. He looks over at me, his small takeout bowl already finished.
“You owe me more food now!”
I wrap my arm around him and feed him a piece of tibs, a sautéed lightly spiced beef strip. He noms on it happily while I say,
“How about we try some Japanese food? There’s a shop near here that’s actually pretty good.”
His eyes widen as he jumps up and says,
“Nyah?! Anime food?!”
I nod my head,
“Yup! Anime food. They have sushi, takoyaki, ramen, all of it. We can share each of them so we don’t get too full.”
He nods his head so fast his ears might achieve liftoff. He tries to pull me with him, forgetting his takeout box on the bench,
“Come oooooon! Let’s gooooooo!”
I shake my head,
“Nope. You gotta throw your takeout box in the trash first, baby.”
He looks at me, then at the box, and quickly grabs it. He then takes mine from my hands and sprints over to the nearest trash can, causing his sweater to ride up in the wind, exposing his butt for a split second. I cast some wind magic to make sure it stays down so nobody else can get a look at him.
He runs back as I stand up and grabs my hand,
“Can we have anime food now, nya?”
I chuckle and nod my head,
“Sure, but you’ve gotta explain why you’re saying nya now, baby.”
His cheeks flush red instantly as he puffs up his cheeks and says,
“Nyaaaaaa! It’s all anime’s fault! How do people on earth know that baby Caitherians say nya at the end of their sentences?! I just recently grew out of it! It’s got me doing it again!”
I rub the back of his hand with my thumb as he leans into me, pouting. I reassure him,
“It’s okay. I think it’s pretty cute. Though, other people might think you’re weird… After all, you’re probably the first Caitherian to exist on earth… People will think you’re a weeaboo… A person who’s not from Japan, but is obsessed with the anime version of Japanese culture…”
He looks down and nods his head.
“Got it! I’ll try not to say it anymore! I don’t want people to think I’m weird!”
I then look at how he’s dressed. Baby blue sweater, baby blue leg warmers, and baby blue converse…
Yup. Pretty normal for New York. Hell, he could probably walk around with his ears and tail just out.
Soon enough, we get to the restaurant. I used to come here after work some days. If you’re someone who enjoys sushi, you know that you sometimes just get cravings for it that can’t be fought!
I walk in and we get led to our seats. Kiki looks at the menu. I’m about to help him, but I hear him muttering to himself in English…
“Hmm… Sashimi? California roll? Imitation crab?”
I pat his back and say,
“Why don’t we try sashimi? Do you like raw fish?”
He looks at me and nods his head,
“Mhm! We would eat the filets after dipping them in nyaruin sauce!”
I pet his head and say,
“I’ll have to try that when we visit your tribe! How about we do some salmon sashimi with soy sauce? Then, we can get a bowl of Shio Ramen, and some takoyaki!”
He looks up at me like I’m a god and presses himself closer, letting out soft purrs as he says,
“Nyaaaaa, yes pleeeeeease. I loooove youuuuuu!”
I blink for a bit before chuckling and kissing the top of his head,
“I love you too.”
When the waiter gets there, I order our food and drinks. Kiki really liked the sweetened green tea I made him, so I ordered him that. I got myself a bottle of sake. I’m feeling some alcohol right now!
Kiki busies himself by playing with my hand, and looking around the restaurant at the decorations. He points to the red torii gate painted on the wall and says,
“Ooh! I know what that is! It’s called a torii gate! Dunno why, though. There’s no door on it! It’s not keeping anything out!”
I pet his head and quiet him down a bit,
“They probably have a more spiritual reason for them. I’ll teach you how to use a computer so you can look stuff like that up…”
I then decide to ask him,
“So, Kiki… You could read that menu earlier?”
He nods his head and says,
“Mhm! I know how to read! They taught me when I was a slave because educated slaves sell for more.”
My heart pangs when he says that, but I keep it to myself and say,
“Well… That wasn’t written in the language you know, Kiki… It was written in English…”
He looks at me for a second, just blinking and taking my words in. Then, it finally clicks,
“Wait… I could understand you when you were talking to that lady at the food truck earlier too…”
I then lean in and ask him,
“Can you show me your status window?”
He tilts his head, asking me,
“What’s a status wind-OH!”
He flinches back as a status screen shows up in front of him. Luckily, I caught him just in time to throw up a notice-me-not spell so people don’t react. It shows his status screen:
~~~~~{Status}~~~~~
Name: Kiki Fleetfoot
Age: 21
Titles: Escaped Slave, Omniversal Traveller
Stats:
Vitality: 3 / 12
Agility: 14 / 203
Mind: 4 / 13
~~~~{Status End}~~~~
…
Yup. That confirms it. Kiki can speak any language now.
I don’t like that escaped slave is in his status. If I can find a way to change that, I absolutely will. My boy is no slave. He never will be ever again. And if anyone, or anything thinks they can take him away from me?...
I’ll kill them.