Chapter 1: World, here I… come?

There are times I truly wish I could remember about common sense and self-control. Yesterday proved once more how I can't handle even a little glass of alcohol.

I couldn't even remember what kind of beverage I was offered, nor I could explain why I blacked out so quickly. I groaned, my body feeling terribly sore, tired and… my eyes slowly opened to an unfamiliar ceiling.

A blink, then two.

I was on the couch of some strangers' house. I flinched as the sensitivity of my entire body kicked quickly up, the waking up process speeding up the moment I realized that there was a strong possibility that I have been kidnapped.

My hands unconsciously drifted near my thighs, trying to spot any hurting spot, anything that could hint at any of the worst scenarios.

I felt at ease moments later after having confirmed the only aching being the overall post-sleep soreness.

This… was a strange situation. I felt my muscles whine a little as I shifted carefully to sit on the couch, gaining a better sight of the whole room.

It looked like a normal living room, maybe a little bit cramped compared to the one I had back home. Nothing special, except for the various things placed on the small table in front of the couch.

The walls were painted in a soft yellow, not bright enough to blind my poor eyes but also not dark enough to give a sense of decay about the whole room.

I had one of the small pieces of paper, something like business cards, sitting atop everything else on my hand, my eyes reading quickly the words there and… I frowned.

'Las Lindas'

I don't think I've ever heard of something going with that name. There was just some other info, like phone number and email, but there wasn't anything else that could have helped me understand what was going on.

I was slightly annoyed at being left with little close to nothing from that brief search and I was already considering wandering as nobody seemed to be around to-

Clang

I flinched the moment I saw the plate being put on the table, the suddenness of the action catching me off-guard. “Whoops! Sorry pal, it's just that the eggs were burning there and-"

“I-It's alright." I nodded my stare still fixed on the delicious scrambled eggs with bacon steaming just fine under my needy and hungry eyes. “I just wasn't expecting to be offered breakfast after-!!"

I looked up, ready to connect the friendly tone of the dude that offered me such a delicious treat to his face and… I ended up freezing up at what I was looking at.

Brown orbs, a lighter shade than mine but still having quite the warmth tone on them.

From the eyes, I turned to the rest of his body. I wasn't looking to a full-fledged human being, but to someone that was an… anthropomorphic animal.

The animal in question was a dog, at first sight, a Border Collie.

He had shoulder-length white-hair and he was wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and long gym-pants. I blinked again, realizing that I was staring far too long now.

“I-I'm sorry-"

“That's fine, man." My half-ass apology was rebuffed politely. “I suppose you are still dizzy because of how you have fallen asleep."

It was nice that I didn't have to explain that, while I appeared just shook and nothing else about learning of his figure, inside I was going full-panic at the humanoid nodding my way and gesturing me to dig at the breakfast.

If before I still had some doubts about it, now I can say for sure that I am far from home.

Knowing that it was for the best to avoid asking about the 'how' and the 'what the heck', I started to tentatively try the food and… it wasn't half-bad.

While the scrambled eggs had some visible black spot, burned edges, yet I couldn't help but smile once more at trying it with the bacon. The strip of meat was perfectly cooked in my opinion.

I nodded unconsciously and the young 'man' chuckled. “Good. Now if you excuse me, I still have to finish serving the rest of the breakfast and- are you still feeling dizzy?"

Humming, I shook my head. I was still taking in the whole 'anthro guy' situation. I wasn't particularly scared, he seemed to be a good person but I just wanted to know what was going on here.

“I know I shouldn't be asking this since you have just woken up and you are still recovering from what has happened but..." He pointed at the plate with an uneasy look. “Could you please bring the plate back to the kitchen or you could leave it and-"

“I can do that," I replied quickly, almost facepalming at how quickly I did. “I mean, I know you are the host and all, but I am not made of paper."

“Understood and- Actually, I don't think I introduced myself." He leaned down, a big smile on his face as he stretched his open palm towards me, waiting for the hand-shake and…

“My name is Randal Hawthorne." He presented himself, nodding once more and causing me to sigh.

I nodded with a small smiled and went to grasp his waiting hand.

“M-Matt, Matt Newcastle." I replied with a calm but determined voice.

The texture reminded me of soft fur because it was soft fur, but there was also something that felt… different from petting a cat or a dog. It felt oddly satisfying.

The handshake ended moments later, Randal departed shortly after but not before giving me quickly some directions for the kitchen.

I paused just a moment, letting him leave my sight before returning my attention to the last thoughts before he arrived.

Glancing back at the ceiling, my mind started to compile a limited analysis of my current predicament and… I was completely stomped by several elements.

While Randal was genuinely a good person, I still felt like I needed to know what he 'was'. I didn't mean it as an offense, but seriously, I don't think that animal-like people just appeared from nowhere in a single day-

Actually, how long have I been sleeping?

My mind was quickly saying 'a day' but I had to be sure and thus my hand went to my pants' left pocket. I recognized the familiar weight of my phone moments after waking up, thus I knew that I wasn't robbed whatsoever.

I turned the device on- when did I turn it off? I never had it to shut down without any formal reason and as the display showed pure, blinding white, a strange notification popped up.

Input Password:

...I don't have a password on my phone. This was my phone, I was fairly sure of it as the maker and the damaged sections were still there, and-

Maybe someone pranked me. There was no doubt in hell that this wasn't something I caused but I still started to try and get some passwords in the configuration.

Birthday? Nope.

The day I finished High School? Nyet.

Driving License? Nada.

Classic '123'? Niente!

I huffed in annoyance at this new obstacle, knowing that someone somehow got hold of my phone while I was unconscious and placed a password in it. That meant I was further deprived of the chance of getting some concrete data, like my detailed whereabouts and what time it was.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I retained some minor composure as I reminded myself I had things to do. Picking up the plate in both hands, I slowly got up from the couch, back hurting and all, but I managed to get some steps in the right direction.

The kitchen was actually spacious, rather surprising as usually the living room was supposed to be three times the kitchen. This was the case in all the houses I've visited.

I placed the plate down in the sink and turned around, eyes glancing all over the place and… I saw some frames with pictures.

Many had Randal smiling in them, and some even when he was younger and looking so adorable.

I was tempted to D'aww at these last ones in particular but I decided against it for both for masculinity's and silence's sake.

In the picture there were also three more characters, one actually 'disappearing' after a few of those, while two distinct ones persisting together with Randal.

Both bovines with brown-fur complex, the oldest of the two a yellower/lighter-shade fur and with horns more developed compared to the youngest. The two females were mother and daughter.

Does that make Randal… adopted or something?

Just as I continued to fall deeper into these minor revelations, I felt someone's finger poking at my shoulder. “I see that you got there without issue and- you noticed the photos?"

Oh? An opportunity to tease a little? Who was I to deny myself this duty!

“I did," I replied, my lips twitching smugly. “You were adorable as a child, Randy."

I was trying to tease, I was trying to tease the easy-going dog-boy and yet he gave the most confusing, embarrassing and back-firing reaction I could have ever imagined.

He smiled, eyes closed and a light blush somehow visible through the fur on his face. “T-Thank you. Mom used to tease me about it but I guess I-I really was… adorable."

...This just leaves me embittered and oddly confused.

Dumb Human 0 – 1 Smart Doggo

Dangit…

“S-So, do you have something to do or-"

He nodded wide-eyed, jumping a little at the sudden change of topic. “Yes right, I-I have to leave this plate on the sink and..." He stopped, his smile renewed as he glanced my way. “Mom wants to meet you."

I blinked. “Your mom? You mean… she is at home right now?"

I kind of expected her to not be there as I heard nobody walking around except Randal… but he did just bring a second plate to another section of the house and returned with it completely 'cleaned up'.

Another nod. “She is resting a little right now." He hesitated just a moment, his smile faltering briefly. I frowned as he continued. “She felt a little tired, I bet she will be fully active tomorrow."

Something was missing in his words, something about his tone was… off. It was a subtle change, but one that made so many differences in his mannerism.

Oddly, it felt familiar.

“Well, if your mom wants to meet me, I don't think it would be right if we lose time." I patted his shoulder while moving toward the doorstep. “Let's not make her wait." I smiled as I waited for him to react.

He looked surprised but nodded and led me deeper into the house and… we reached a rather dark part of the building. There were few lights, but their intensity was lesser than the others of the corridors.

Randal stopped, a hand lifting to knock at the door in front of him. Two soft knocks and we both waited for a response.

“Come in." It was muffled, but I felt something was wrong with her voice.

The door was opened and we entered a barely-illuminated bedroom. It had a large queen-sized bed, several decorated pieces of furniture, a full mirror and… the woman that I have seen in the pictures.

She was different, a duller version of the lively mother I've learned of from the photos.

Her light-brown hair were now sporting some graying locks in a display of old age; There some small wrinkles present in her still youthful-looking face and she seemed fairly… drained with her current expression.

She was wearing what looked to be a simple set of dull pink-themed Pjs, coming a little tight because of how much time had passed since she had last wore this set, giving me some hints that this pieces of clothes hadn't been used for a long time… until now at least.

Then I noticed her eyes and I felt even sadder at what I was looking at.

It was just this little detail that got me quite perplexed over this encounter.

Despite the attempt made by her kind smile and lovely expression to try and convey the genuine good-will of this tired woman, there was a glint in her green orbs that left me incredibly confused and melancholic.

I could see defeat in her eyes. Defeat about work, defeat about family and… defeat about life itself.

It started to leave a wrong impression of distress in my core, my mind bringing back some of the recent events I wished to ignore right now and yet I was forced to deal with this.

I took a big and heavy breath before returning to my pressing thoughts.

First I deal with the immediate situation, then I would give some more focus on my own life's problems.

“Good morning."

Her voice was soft, but lacking the warmth that should be there to combine with her gentle look.

“Good morning, ma'am," I replied kindly and politely, her smile widened a fraction at my quiet tone before giving a simple sigh.

“It's been so long since I have last seen a human in this part of Neo-Earth," The woman commented quietly. “And I doubt you are here without a particular reason."

She narrowed her eyes on me and I surprisingly felt some effect from that weak but stern glance trying to push me to talk.

There was a detail in this curious look that reminded me of something I've experienced before, the intensity was so strong that I had to look away in shame at how intense it was.

It was an odd reaction coming from me but… I couldn't do much about it as my body did it without notice, it was all based from an instinct that was currently eluding my capacity to move against it.

I knew for sure why she was feeling threatened by my presence here as I was a possible danger in her house with her son around.

I was an intruder to her and… there wasn't much I could do to deter her from this proper line of thought.

Randal looked particularly surprised at his mother, then back at me and one last time to the woman.

The woman was waiting for a response from me and… I was feeling very nervous about what I was supposed to say. She looked ready to jump me at any wrong steps I could take and I felt paling the more I waited.

Then I managed to spoke, my throat aching in the dryness caused by the nerve-wracking moment.

“I-I don't know," I started to explain, a brief pause as her eyes narrowed even more. “T-The last thing I remember was falling asleep at-"

“At the bar down the path-" She tried to interject but at that point, I snapped back.

“The one near home!" I interrupted with some annoyance blasting in my words, the outburst making them both look in surprise and I knew I was tip-toeing a dangerous edge if I continued to let my emotions rule over that matter. “I-I'm not from around her a-and I certainly didn't plan to come here."

There was silence, part of me starting to giving up at the chance of avoiding an escalation and yet-

“I believe you."

… “W-What?" I asked, eyes blinking at the weird tone the woman adopted.

The other humanoid looked shocked too but didn't voice it.

“You sound like you mean it," She explained calmly, her smile once more adorning her face. “So I will believe you for now."

Then she turned to look at her son and nodded.

“Son, you should go and finish your chores. I think you have yet to wash the dishes and…" She turned her eyes on me. “I will spare some words with our guest before having him return to you."

He blinked. “B-But mom-"

“He will be fine, Randal." Her smile turned sickly sweet. “I will make sure he understands a 'thing or two', nothing more."

Randal looked confused and hesitant to go, I noticed his short tail had stopped to waggle for a long time now.

He spared me just a long, hesitant look as if asking me to not do anything wrong and… I found myself nodding back at him.

He smiled a little and returned the gesture before turning around and leaving through the door, closing it behind himself as he left us two alone.

I gulped nervously as her green orbs fixed on my face.

“I almost forgot to tell," She started with an amicable tone. “I'm Diana Linda, the owner of Las Lindas."

A blink passed and I nodded. “N-Nice to meet you, Mrs. Linda, my name is Matt Newcastle."

Diana hummed, her head tilting on one side and then she nodded.

“You are lying." She remarked without hesitation.

I froze at the words, my eyes slightly widening at the smile still growing.

“W-What?" I tried to wriggle myself out of that situation by faking confusion. “T-That is my name-"

“Wrong, try again."

I paused just a moment, my eyes narrowing on her smug smile as I tried to make sense of what was going on with her. There was no way in hell that she knew I was lying about my name-

“It's your accent," She dropped the hint out with an amused tone. “I've traveled around the world and I do know how the Italian accent works. The 's' tend to be emphasized as a 'z' in the pronunciation and while you seem to have almost won over this flaw, you still have your moments."

I- She knew about where I was from by my accent and- Dangit!

“And!" Diana grinned a little as she revealed a very familiar object that should have been in one of my pants' pockets. “I found your wallet."

“Why do you even have it?" I asked quickly, making her sigh tiredly at my confusion.

“I was the one that found you while taking a walk around. You were dangling off one of the apple trees of our orchard and I had to check if you were someone trustworthy or not." She explained in detail. “You have a lot to explain, Mattia Castelnuovo, like how did you exactly end up in Gossamer?"

Gossa-what? What was she talking about- was that a country, a nation or a region-

“I… don't know?"

Her lips twitched in annoyance and she let out an annoyed huff as she eased on the bed. “You are possibly one of the most enigmatic individuals I've ever dealt in the last few months."

“Oh," I said intelligently, eyes blinking with some confusion.

Diana sighed. “And I don't even know what to do about you."

There was some tension, I felt some shivers go down my spine as I waited silently for something to happen-

“What do you think I should do?" She asked, curiosity swelling in her words. “Do you have any suggestions?"

...She is joking. She has to be joking to be asking me 'what' she should do to meand…

“You are not kidding, aren't you?"

The woman shook her head softly, she didn't give anything verbally, and I sighed in annoyance at the situation I was presented with.

What was I supposed to say? Let myself go free without any prices-

But it wouldn't then be right!

I know that I was dealing with an 'out-of-jail card' scenario but I wasn't seriously going to leave this place without… some questions answered.

I also felt like I did have some debt to pay to both Diana and Randal as they did provide me some food and shelter, a place to rest too.

I blinked again as my mind provided with an alternative.

Something that could help, something that could give me some time and space to evaluate my possibilities.

My mouth opened.

“What if… I worked for you?" I offered slowly, calmly my eyes gauging anything in her face that could offer me any indication over the wording of the idea. “You have a farm, so I could work for you to repay your kindness and-"

“You genuinely think I helped you expecting to be repaid somehow?" Diana's rhetorical question and irked tone were enough to make me flinch instantly as she summarized 'my idea'. “I hope you understand that what you just said sound more like you are trying to offend me."

I shook my head. “I meant that I can work for you in exchange for food and shelter. The debt thing is… more of a personal objective," I reiterated in a better light, yet her eyes narrowed suspiciously and I knew she was hardly accepting my perspective.

“So I should hire you, have you live in my house and… and to what end exactly? What are you trying to accomplish by doing so?" The woman pressed on, causing me to look away in embarrassment.

I'm not the smartest diplomat and I knew I was missing something… important.

“What if we make a bet?" Diana mused quietly, head reclining to the large pillow behind her. “What if… I give you a long-term objective to complete before the end of a set time-limit."

I blinked.

“A… long-term objective?" I asked with some curiosity. What was she trying to do here?

“Las Lindas has..." She sighed heavily, there was an annoyed look but… was it directed towards herself?

“Fallen in a bad shape. It would need someone with enough determination to work hard enough and have it back to working shape."

“How 'bad' are we talking about?" I continued to ask my fair share of questions and Diana was more than happy to reply to all of them.

“You would be the only worker," The woman replied quickly and without hesitation. “Randal can help you here and there, but it has to be you doing the real work."

I was about to give another question when she continued to talk.

“Tomorrow morning you will be going with my son to the local market to buy some new equipment. I don't think the ones we have left in the barn can be used after so long since they have last seen some light."

“So…" I hummed quietly. “We are done here?"

She nodded and relaxed on her big pillow. “I give you a month starting from tomorrow."

I gave her a wide-eyed stare, realizing that the time I was going to be doing this miracle was going to put no little pressure on my back.

“U-Understood."

Walking towards the door, Diana spoke once more.

“And before you go, please come closer. Just a moment,"

She gestured me to approach and… I complied, walking right by the left side of the bed. It was with this closeness that I ended up noticing her… curves. She was past her prime but her body still was something quite… heavenly.

“When you are finished undressing me with your eyes, you can return back to the real world," She huffed slightly annoyed, causing me to blush heavily at being caught in the act.

“S-Sorry." The apology was a must, the smile that I received wasn't something I was expecting.

“It's fine, I know you are still young..." She nodded to herself, smiling a little. “Younger than Randal, I reckon."

“Younger? I thought he was younger than me?" I gave her a surprised look and she nodded, gesturing me to tilt closer as her hands slowly moved near my face and…

Was she going for head-patting? Why would she do tha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHT!

“Nuaaahh!" The pain was unbearable, her hands closed on my poor cheeks and started to pinch these mercilessly. “Pweese, nomowe!"

“Oh, no more?" Her smile twitched with amusement. “Yet you were quite the stubborn brat in thinking I was trying to gain something from helping you out."

She stopped pinching, relenting the hold just a moment.

“Tell me, what do you think of me?"

This is escalating way too quickly.

“You awe P-Pwetty?"

She blinked. “Pretty? Can't you think of something a little more… proper for myself?"

… “Dwop-dwead gowgeous?"

“Fair enough." She nodded, accepting the compliment but… starting to pinch once more. “And what about kindness?"

“W-Wewy kwind?" The pinching intensified even more. “I-I me-an, supah-dupah kwind!"

She let go, this time her hands shifting to cup both cheeks in a soft and calm hold. I blinked, my face burning at the torture it had just endured and… I found myself awed at what I was looking at.

Diana's face was red, her breathing a little labored as her mouth laid open wide as she was recovering from… laughing?

I did remember hearing her give a quick chuckle, but I was fairly sure that this kind of reaction could only be reached when someone gave a full-blown laugh.

“T-That was… hilarious." She said as if holding back a giggle, then she sighed. “I-I'm sorry but-"

“It's fine," I replied somberly, causing her to give a sheepish look in return.

“Then you may go. I think Randal would need some help and..." She hummed for a brief moment. “Can you please see if there is someone interested in my baby boy in town-"

“I will take my leave," I said coolly, moving out of her hands as she tried and failed to extort some promise of babysitting the young man.

He was older than me and I was supposed to keep an eye on him?

This place is starting to show some strange crazy.

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AN

First chapter of this 31-Chapters long Volume and hopefully I will manage to complete it without any major issues. What is it? An experiment of sort. So… See ya!

EDIT: Grammar corrections done by a combined effort from Ant0nius (FF) and I.