Chapter 1.1 Settling In

Inside a mobile home surrounded by a forest sits a 5’9” decently rounded man, He is sitting on a makeshift table while playing video games. Looking at his figure he has a long beard well grown out and can be seen wearing some gray morning robes, next to him, sits a black pug. The pug is black and skinny compared to that of a standard one

“You know coco this is nice, having a home to ourselves,being to live in peace, you know,”

In response to his words the dog just continued to lick itself in its crotch, The man sighs and just continued to play Luii Mission on his MegaCube, It was peaceful, to say the least. The calming atmosphere the crackling of birds and other forest animals ruffling about, without civilization around this was peaceful, then a knock was heard at the door

“Oye Jacob you still alive in there ain't you”

Upon hearing the female’s voice he slumps down in an attempt to hide himself, but to no avail, the female at the door is not deterred by the lack of response

“When is your lazy ass gonna go out and enjoy the town festival, It’s in 3 hours”

Even though he knew that his cover was blown, he still hoped by not saying anything she would leave, but Coco wasn’t, Her ears perked up, and just like any other dog she does what she was trained to do all her life, she barks in excitement as she runs at the door scratching at it. While dogs, in general, are happy creatures, it seemed she was exceptionally excited to see the guest, Jacob sighed, he was caught

“I told you I’m not going-”

Before he could finish his sentence there is a klack and a creak as the door swung open revealing a 5’6” female individual coming through, she has blue ocean eyes and blond short hair, and her physique is slim yet well built. To be quite frank she has the appearance of a quite attractive individual of a tomboy

“You know If I had a dollar for every time I had to drag your ass outside, I think I would be pretty rich, Isn’t that right coco”

As she walked in Coco was going crazy, she ran right at her barking in excitement as the girl petted her,

“Do you really have to come every day”

His voice sounded slightly annoyed, but more than anything it carried a tired tone to it, while the girl in contrast sounded full of life

“Dude Are you really complaining that a beautiful girl such as myself, is checking up on you every day, don’t you know people will fall head over heels for someone like me”

She wore an expression of pride, but it also had a mix of smugness to it, seeing this he help but chuckle a bit, despite his previous expressions she knew how to make him laugh

“You know, I know that you just like it whenever I cook right”

Her smirky demeanor quickly faded as she was caught dead in her tracks, she felt a bit embarrassed as her sneaky goal were exposed. He continued to stare at her while she chuckled nervously

“Did you bring the materials to cook at least”

“yep”

She throws up a thumbs-up sign as she smiles proudly, for her this victory is almost like she won the Olympics. As He got up he noticed while not apparent the clothes she was wearing, she had on short jeans and a black shirt that says ‘Potato lord’, a typical tomboy outfit

“Put the ingredients on the burner”

She complied

“Thank you”

He watched as she laid the ingredients,

‘Weirdo’

He smiled a bit, Despite her tomboyish style of interaction, she does have a cute side to her as well, but the thing that occupied his mind the most was what to cook. He got up to prepare the meal, it didn’t take long for him to realize she had brought him some rice, chicken, and curry mix

“Katsu curry it is”

He put on his cooking gown and pulled some pans out of his cabits, Then he prepared the chicken and rice on the side, once that got going he used some curry mix to add to the potatoes as well as carrots, for that unique flavor. Next he carefully steamed the carrots on high heat, he then added the potatoes to another pan on low heat. As he got that going he turned towards the rice and chicken, he was thinking about how to prepare them, but in the midst of his thoughts, he could hear marry and coco playing

“Who’s my good girl, who’s my little coco puffs”

He must of been listening for a bit as the smell of the steaming vegetables snapped him back to reality, he looks over to see there half way done cooking

‘Lets just prepare them regularly’

He cut into the meat to allow it to cook properly, then he started preparing the rice, As that sweet aroma filled the room marry and coco couldn’t help but notice the smell, when he turned back towards them he saw that both of there mouths were drolling. Despite how weird this situation was, he couldn’t also help but find happiness in there presence, after all they had been repeating this routine for many years, and this was just like any other day, but today was a bit special, today was

“Happy birthday Marry”

In an instant the atmosphere fell silent and a bit awkward, there was no preparation or build up just randomly blurted out words. As his words registered with her she found it difficult to speak back, and it would have stayed like that for a while if it wasn't for coco, her barking brought back everyone's attention that the food was burning

“Oh shit”

He rushed to flip the already burnt meal, as he cursed his lack of awareness he heard her laughing, when he turned around he saw that she was laughing, but not a fake or awkward laugh, it was genuine, it felt like with her very laugh the atmosphere changed

“Jacob, thank you”

He looked at her, and for a moment realized how long it was since she thanked someone, espcially for wishing her a happy birthday. The thought of what happened to marry a long time ago when he was a teenager crossed his mind, How he related to something similar that happened to him quite a long time ago. He for a moment got lost in thought

“Hey the food is still burning”

“I know I know hold up”

At her words he hurriedly turns off the gas and tries to salvage what food he could, He slices off the burnt parts and somehow manages to make the dish come out as good as new. He prepares 5 plates and wraps 2 of them with plastic, 2 of them with curry and 1 of them with rice and kibble for coco, both of them proceeds to chow down on their meal while he brings his outside to eat on a stump

“Thank you for the meal”

When he bites into it the texture and flavor there both equally quite divine as they compliant eachother, thats when they ask for seconds, he gets up to serve them as everyone continues to chow down on their freshly made food. Silences passes as the wind starts picking up a bit, its calm and peaceful, that was until Marry spoke up with a full mouth

“So as for the festival, are you coming?”

“Nope”

Her attitude changes at his response, while previously cheerful this time she looks annoyed and a bit frustrated

“You know, I know you don't like to socialize with others and you enjoy your “peace”, but come on everyone wants you to go”

“Normally you would be right, but what can I say, I enjoy my peace”

“That makes no sense”

“yea it doesn’t”

He is actively smirking while she looks even more visibly annoyed, but this is just like any other day for them. When the day started, sometimes they would go out to do errands, or help around the nearby town, but for the most part, he would stay here in his convertible home, this was his “peace”, his frozen paradise where everything and nothing could go wrong, well except for one individual who could break that peace

“Marry”

He called out to her, and in response she looked at him in anticipation

“Coco is peeing on your clothes”

“Wait! What!?!”

Hearing that she started sweating bullets, she looks at Coco who is currently chilling on her lap, she picked her up and examined her dress all over, after a bit more searching she found no stain of pee, and thats when she looked up to see him laughing

“Dude what the hell, you scared me”

He just continued to laugh

“You might be onto something teasing someone is fun”

To tease someone who was used to teasing others, well it felt nice for him, as he got up to go wash his plates she just pouted

“Now then let's go get ready”

she looked at him in confusement, and that’s when it hit her

“Wait are you serious”

He gave a reassuring smile

“It's your 20th birthday, why not”

she was genuinely shocked at his words, he was a man of the box, the type of guy that doesn’t like to go to events or parties, it was a miracle, he was like that one friend that never goes out, yet he said he would

“Thank you so much, I'm gonna go tell everyone your coming, I got to go get ready”

With that said she bolted out of the room and left Coco and him by themselves, thats when he looked at Coco

“You think it's too late to say I changed my mind”

She just barked at him and went back to laying on her bed, she was full and happy

“Let's get going then”

He prepared to leave his home but then took a good look at himself in his mirror, his face was worn and he had bags under his eyes. Looking at him closer it had been a while since he cut his hair and beard, He is barely in his early 20’s yet he looked like a 30-year-old man. When it came to his appearance he couldn’t care less, but, her smile popped into his brain, just for today he would stretch outwards

“Rose would scold me…just like her”

He walked over to his bed area, thats when he went to his cabinets and looked through his drawers for some materials, after a bit of searching he pulls out some shaving cream and scissors,

“Let's do this”