No Raccoons In the Pantry

Nick sat up straight and looked right out the window again. He was pretty sure he saw something. He squinted to try and see better. He didn't even glance at the tentacle to check if it had noticed anything.

'There!'

It was faint, but he definitely saw a shadow flicker across his lawn. But it was almost impossible to see a shadow in the darkness of night, and Nick had no hope of seeing what kind of animal it was. He only vaguely saw something move every now and then as the animal investigated the scraps he left behind.

After a little while, he saw nothing. He glanced at the tentacle, who tilted its tip like it was a head. It was almost like it was asking why he was looking at it.

"Is it still out there?" He whispered.

The tentacle shook its tip.

Nick sighed lightly. That was a shame. He had hoped he could have gotten a better look at it.

But just to make sure, he turned on the porch lights, illuminating part of his lawn. The plate was empty, and the pot and pan had been moved a little. The scraps were gone. But the place was significantly tidier than it had been left yesterday.

Nick didn't know why, but it felt like he was dealing with a polite nightly visitor at least.

Nick glanced at the tentacle.

"I don't need to worry about anything or anyone entering the house, right?" He asked. Having wild animals visit his lawn and help him with the dishes was one thing. Waking up to find a raccoon in his pantry was another.

The tentacle nodded firmly. The house and Nick, as long as he stayed in range, were safe.

"That's good." Nick yawned, brushed his teeth, and crashed onto the bed.

When he woke up the next morning, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do, so he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling until the tentacle poked his cheek. He waved it away, but it continued. Eventually, he turned to the side and looked at it.

"Do you need something?" He asked bluntly.

It shook its tip. Nope. It just wanted to poke his cheek.

Nick sighed and got up.

He hadn't made any promises to the others about making more sausage today. That meant there was nothing on his schedule. That meant he was bored.

But he had dishes to do and a campsite to clean up. So, that's what he did.

When he was done, he looked at the fire pit.

It was pretty nice with a campfire. It would be even better if he had a couple of logs to sit on or something and firewood. Sitting on the ground or crouching worked a couple of times, but Nick had a feeling that he would be using the fire pit quite a lot during his stay in this new world.

For that, he would need both seats and firewood.

It wasn't very efficient having to ask the Ursa family or Sosora to fetch dry wood from the forest every time they wanted to make something together, either.

However, Nick wasn't sure about taking down a few trees just like that. He wasn't even sure if he could. He didn't have a chainsaw or any axes. He would need to ask for help.

He scratched the back of his head as he looked into the forest uncertainly.

'I guess I'll wait.' He was not going to brave the forest just because he wanted to ask Sosora or the Ursa family about a few things. He didn't even know where they lived.

Besides, Sosora would probably stop by sometime in the next couple of days. There was no need to rush. 

Almost as if to answer his thoughts, the bushes rustled. However, instead of Sosora's feathery face, Nick saw Kai's furry butt.

He frowned.

"Kai?"

Kai backed into the clearing, dragging something with his mouth. At first, Nick thought he was dragging an animal that he wanted to be made into a sausage.

That wasn't it. Nick's eyebrows rose as he recognized the figure hanging from the collar in Kai's mouth.

It was the cat-like kid that had tried to kill him the other day. Nick tilted his head as he met the kid's scared and tearful eyes.

"Ah!" The kid shouted in fear when he saw Nick.

'That's a little hurtful.'

"Kai, what are you doing?" Nick asked, which prompted the bear cub to release the cat-like kid and plop down on his rear. Kai tilted his head and stared at Nick.

Kai raised a paw and pointed at his the fire pit and then his mouth and then the kid's mouth.

"You want to feed him sausage?" Nick asked. Kai nodded.

'Maybe my secret talent is wordless communication?' Nick thought to himself.

"Alright. Wait here. It will take a few minutes."

Kai put a heavy paw on the kid's shoulder. The kid was too scared to try and flee.

Kai patiently waited. If it was for the sake of sausage, he could wait until the seasons changed. He would prefer not to, though.

The cat-like kid, on the other hand, was stressed to the point of losing track of time. After what both felt like an eternity and a few seconds, Nick returned with two halves of a sausage. He had sliced it in half to cut down the time it took to fry it.

Kai eagerly slurped down his half. He pricked the other half with a claw and held it toward the kid's face, smushing it against the firmly sealed lips.

The kid was too scared to eat, especially anything that the strange bear and the human were trying to feed him. It could be poison or something that would grant him endless pain. 

He couldn't believe such a clumsy-looking bear had managed to sneak up on him while he was just keeping watch over the human.

However, he hadn't eaten in a couple of days. The smell of the sausage penetrated his nose. It was the good, store-bought kind. The kid's stomach rumbled, and when he opened his mouth to protest and plead for mercy, Kai quickly shoved it in.

After that, there was no going back.