Isn't My Pet So Adorable?

You know how I said that I should have avoided Peko like my life depended on it? Well, apparently its name just happened to be something that sounded like Nyishklupekoquizhquliphothesht or something. How did I know? Well, it isn’t like it spoke or anything, but I definitely saw a lot of hallucinations and during one of them, I saw a temple of some things worshipping it. I say some things because they clearly weren’t human.

As for all of those hallucinated worlds, they all ended in—well, they just ended. Except one. The last one, some mystic creature tricked Peko into putting on, you guessed it, the talisman. The same one that was now in my hand. Peko, on the other hand? Well, he was growing and fast.

Well, I immediately went and shoved the talisman back on. I was a little rough, but I couldn’t help it. Ever watched countless worlds get destroyed one after another by your pet? No? Okay, well, if anything can induce trauma, that would do it. Take it from someone who experienced it first-hand. The moment I tried to lift my hand, the talisman started to come off, so I ran around my room with Peko tightly held against my chest until I finally found a box of plasters.

A few minutes later, Peko was all good with a talisman just barely hanging on with plasters. I finally felt safe letting Peko go. Oh, and spoiler alert, when the seller guy said Peko ate everything, he meant everything. My room had never been cleaner and I had never felt like crying nearly as much. Except I stopped feeling like crying. Actually, my fear and trauma had disappeared at some point, almost like they had been gobbled up. No way, right?

Right?

Okay, that was weird. I was freaking out for some reason, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. There was nothing to freak out about. Peko was being a good pet and nuzzling up against me.

“Oh, looks like one of the plasters is coming off. Come here and let me replace that.”

I carefully replaced the loose plaster with a new one. I didn’t even know why I was replacing them, but some instinct told me that I needed to replace it.

Time to reassess. What I knew: Peko was some sort of creature that destroyed worlds, the talisman was the only thing stopping Peko from growing, and Peko would eat anything I fed it, even an entire collection of books that I had painstakingly gathered over the years.

I was not sad about it though. I get it, I only spent all of my spare money since I started working on books. Really, I was not sad at all.

I wondered why. Oh well, probably nothing important. Taking care of Peko mattered, ensuring that the talisman stayed on mattered, I already read all of those books anyway. For the time being, I needed to prepare a bath and… I didn’t really have much to do.

“What did I even do before this to stave off boredom? I suppose I do have Peko now to pet.”

Peko felt a bit cool to the touch, which was perfect for a quiet summer weather. Actually, hugging Peko felt nice, even if a little bit on the slimy side. It felt soothing instead of gross, oddly enough.

“Too bad I don’t have any books that tell me what you are.”

I ran the bath and showered with Peko. I was a little nervous at first that the water might hurt Peko, but Peko seemed happy enough with the water, so I ended up giving Peko a thorough washing. The Talisman slid off for a moment when the plasters loosened, but I managed to catch it and place it back on. I wondered if I could use glue of some sort to keep it on.

Once we finally finished with showering, we slipped into the bath and relaxed. A certain other object slipped a few times, but I managed to put it back on fast enough that nothing seemed to happen, so I figured I was safe. As for the bath water, when I went to drain the tub, the water just vanished. Peko must have done that. Pretty convenient. I wonder what else Peko can eat. Maybe drink was a better term given the circumstance?

For the talisman, I managed to use some rice to stick it on as a temporary measure. Not an issue since I needed to prepare dinner anyway. For dinner, some pickled veggies and a bit of rice seasoning accompanied the rice.

We ate the dinner quietly, watched a little bit of the news on my phone, and otherwise kept to ourselves for quiet evening. The stars glittered in the night sky, alluring almost like Peko who snuggled up in my arms.

Although I never managed to figure out just what Peko was, perhaps I might find some luck in a bookstore. It was not like the library had every book out there, so maybe I just never encountered it because I lacked a reason to look hard enough.

That seemed like a good enough plan to me. Wake up in the morning, do my morning routine, make sure the talisman was secured properly, and then go to work. After work, I’d go visit the bookstore and try to see if anything matched Peko. Then I’d come home to cuddle with Peko while reading any books I happened to find.

With the plan set and nothing else to do, I decided to tuck in early while cradling Peko in my arms. After a nice birthday, I finally managed to get some rest. I looked forward to my new life with Peko, but it was quite difficult for me to stay awake with so little to stimulate me. How did I ever manage before? Not that it mattered to me. I had Peko now.

“Good night, Peko.”

I would wake up in the morning ready to challenge another day.

I would wake up, right?