Inside the house, she set her bags down on the kitchen counter and looked around with a soft smile. "You've got a nice place, Liam."
"Thanks," I said, already unloading a giant bag of Costco snacks. "My grandparents are at Paris and I don't know when they will be back so I'm doing the whole grocery thing today."
She paused, her expression shifting slightly. "You live here with your grandparents?"
"Yes and no," I nodded but shook his head. "They move and travel a lot. They also have other houses so I don't know if they will be living with me, but they know I would be fine living alone" I said.
Something in her face softened—almost protective, almost relieved. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Sixteen," I answered casually as he shoved a huge bag of chips into the pantry.
She blinked, surprised. "Sixteen? Wow. You handled yourself like someone much older back at the diner."
"And you are tall and handsome for your age." She thought
I shrugged. "I just… didn't want anything bad to happen."
Emily leaned against the counter, crossing her arms, the older-sister energy practically radiating from her now. "Well, for what it's worth,"
She said, "I'm proud of you. That took courage. Most grown adults wouldn't have done what you did."
Liam felt a small, embarrassed warmth creep up his neck. "Thanks." "Definitely not going to tell her that it was my body not my mind that acted." I said in my head.
As they finished unloading the bags, Emily grabbed a package of bottled water and carried it to the fridge. "Here, don't lift this. You'll throw your back out," she joked lightly.
"I'm not that weak," I said, though he laughed and rolled my eyes. Emily smiled. "Still. Let me help. I've got big-sister privileges now."
"Big sister?" I repeated. "Am I in a anime world or something, this shit only happen in anime." I mused to myself.
"Yep," she said, sliding another bottle into the fridge door. "You saved my butt at the diner, and you're my neighbor. So, congratulations, you're stuck with me. I'm declaring myself your honorary older sister." I couldn't help but grin. "I guess that's not too bad."
"Not bad?" she said, pretending to be offended. "Excuse you—I give excellent advice, I bring snacks, I fix stuff, and I scare off sketchy people. That's like peak big-sister material."
I laughed again. "Okay, okay, you're hired."
Once everything was unpacked, Emily looked around, hands on her hips. "You good now?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Thanks for helping." She nodded. "Anytime. And listen…" I looked up.
"If you ever feel unsafe, or if something's bothering you, or even if you just need help with homework or want to talk… my door's right next to yours. Okay?"
He felt something settle—comfort, maybe. A sense of safety he didn't expect. "Shit" I thought "Okay," I said quietly.
Emily smiled and gave his shoulder a gentle, sisterly pat. "Good. Because everyone needs someone sometimes." Then she pointed dramatically at the enormous pantry stuffed with snacks. "And, by the way, if you ever run out of chips again, you know who to call."
I laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do." Emily headed toward the door. "See you later, little neighbor," she said with a wink. "See you, big sister."
She stepped outside, and he watched her walk toward her house with the calm confidence of someone who had taken back control of her life—and now, oddly, had become a new protective figure in his.
A strange day had turned into something unexpectedly good. Not dramatic. Not romantic. Just… the beginning of a real friendship.
Sigh, welp time to continue my Thang. I should take a shower, so he went upstairs and took a hot shower.
Came out and put on some clothes and went Infront of the computer. Time search up if racism is in this world and yup, it is. "Sigh I gotta make sure I pick the right songs."
I looked at my balance on the debit card, and it made me winced. "I need to figure a way to make money." I thought and thought than it hit him.
Why don't I draw like I did in my old world. I was a artist for a game company so that would work and also mess around with blender and such because of Vrchat. So how am I going to get people to buy my art, I started searching the internet. I found it.
Twitter.
Twitter wasn't supposed to be this big in 2005, it was supposed to happened in 2007 but it's fine. Good for me. This money will be useful to stop the copyrights of the songs I wanted to release.
He looked and saw what he can use. It seems like I can use ips paint, Krita, and adobe photoshop. Let's use adobe so I opened it up. Considering that I'm using a computer mouse since I didn't have a tablet to draw on. I should draw something good detailed.
I decided to draw a dragon, Two parts of that. 1 color and other more shading. As soon as I was finished the drawing, I got the notification I had been waiting for.
[Digital Art Lv 29
With Digital Art, you get better 29% faster and have a 29% higher chance that other people will like or buy your art].
Level 29?! I was shocked when I looked at this, this was the highest-level skill I had so far, and it was 5 levels above my singing and haircutting skills.
(Authors note: If you want to see the drawings, I picked search up: 10+ Cool Dragon Drawings for Inspiration. It's going to be a single dragon head that is detailed and the head is tilted down left and everything is shaded. The second picture I picked is: dragon, Fantasy Art, Drawing Wallpapers HD / Desktop and Mobile backgrounds. It's going to be a dragon on all 4 legs with red wings and some holes on it that is standing inside a cave.)
There, now a way to make money fast. If there was one thing I remembered from my previous world that made me laugh was one of my old friends in my class who made a lot of money just by drawing animal characters and characters from shows/movies/anime/games to sell on Twitter, apparently, they sold each drawing for at least $100... what drawings you say? Furry and Gooner fanart...
I didn't know what they were until I saw what it was, and I was shocked. It's basically fucking doujinshi, I can start selling these artworks for $30, which will help a lot to pay for the things I need in the beginning, but if I gain fame, I can raise this price in the future but am I really going stoop this low.. Sigh. I need to use a pseudonym because I never want to have anyone find out that I drew this kind of shit and sell it, especially when and if I become famous in the future, it will kill my career and myself. I wouldn't be able to walk this world in public. This should be erased from my history and public eyes.
So I decided right then and there, I made a Twitter account for this world, and used the dragon art I made as my profile picture. I also took some time to draw sexy very detailed Loona. A character from Helluva Boss anime. Also I need to create a new Gmail so it wouldn't link it to me. Apparently gmail and email is a thing in this world.
Of course, I used a pseudonym because it would be a stain that would be hard to erase from my history... So I created the persona @bakudeku, something that probably only I would find funny in this world, since no one would know this character since the anime doesn't exist in this world.
While writing an ad, I realized that I still lacked a portfolio to convince the public to buy my art "I hope this works" I murmured. Anyway, I'll publish the ad with just my Dragon and Loona drawing as a portfolio, then I'll make more art...' I thought. I thought without worrying too much as I posted.
I saw that the furry community in this world was much smaller than in my previous world, as if it was still in its early stages but the Gooner community is bigger, the other art should be alright most because I checked other artist and I think I'm doing fine.
Even though I wasn't part of that community, and even made fun of it with my friends, every now and then some art in that style would pop up in my feed and pop up even more when I started gaming and work, and after a few years of seeing it, it's hard not to pick up on the style behind it.
The house was quiet, and the sun had dipped low enough to cast an orange glow through the windows. Looking at the time I checked it was 9pm and my stomach rumbled softly, and I realized I hadn't eaten since the diner.
"Guess it's time for dinner," I muttered. I went downstairs washed my hands, rolled up my sleeves, and got to work.
I decided to make something comforting and easy: Spaghetti, a quick homemade tomato sauce. Grilled chicken slices on top and garlic bread made from the Costco loaf. I chopped tomatoes, heated oil, sprinkled basil, and stirred until the kitchen smelled warm and inviting. The garlic bread toasted perfectly crispy on the edges, buttery in the middle.
[ Cooking lv 12 -> 13]
I plated my own dinner and then made a separate plate for Emily, arranging it neatly like I'd seen chefs do online on YouTube. Feeling a little nervous for no reason, I placed her meal into a container and covered it. Then he grabbed a fork, wrapped it in a napkin, and put everything into a small grocery bag.
"This should help her relax, I never done this shit before for both my lives," I said quietly. I stepped outside into the cool evening air. Emily's porch light was already on, giving her house a soft golden glow. I walked up to her door and knocked twice.
A moment later, the door opened. Emily stood there wrapped in a cozy sweater, eyes surprised but warm. "Hey… Liam? Everything okay?" I held up the bag."Yeah. I made dinner and thought you might want some. Since… y'know… today was rough."
She blinked, clearly touched. "You… made me dinner?"
"Yeah. Just spaghetti and chicken. Nothing fancy."
Her expression softened into something gentle and genuinely appreciative. "Liam… that's incredibly sweet. Thank you." She reached out and took the bag carefully, as if it were something special.
"If you need anything," she added, "you know where I am." "I know," I said with a small smile. "Goodnight, Emily." "Goodnight, little neighbor."
I turned and walked back across the lawn, feeling oddly proud. Inside the house, the lights were dim and peaceful. I ate my dinner while watching the TV in the living room, then washed I dishes, turned off the kitchen lights and TV, and headed to the room.
The day felt long—eventful, surprising, strange in all the best ways.
I brushed my teeth, pulled on a hoodie, and climbed into bed. The blankets felt warm, and the room was quiet except for the soft hum of the house settling.
Before I closed my eyes, I thought of Emily—grateful she was safe, grateful they'd met under better circumstances afterward. A big-sister friend right next door.
I let out a slow breath. Yeah. Today wasn't bad at all.
I rolled onto the side, pulled the blanket up, and drifted into sleep.
Unbeknownst to me, shortly after I went to bed, a message arrived in my inbox from someone interested in one of my artworks.
(Author note: I recommend not looking at Gooner fanart or anything Gooner related around people public and private.)