Actually, that does make me curious.

Before the wolf sits down, he plops the bag he had slung on his shoulder onto the ground. It looks a bit weird, almost like a violin case with its angles straightened out. Like an awkward trapezoid.

Wait, I'm getting distracted.

"So... how did you know how I was here?"

"Hmm? Oh." The wolf taps his snout with a couple fingers. "It was faint, but I could smell you a couple blocks away."

... uhh... why is my ear getting warm...

He pauses. "Well, your blood anyways."

"I see... Well, why did you go through the trouble of finding me?"

The wolf takes out what seems to be a canteen, and places it in front of me, along with some kind of package wrapped in what feels like plastic. Afterwards, he moves to sit next to me against the wall.

"I take on a lot of odd jobs. I wasn't looking for you per se, I was just in the area when I caught your scent." He takes his own package, ripping it open. Some kind of food? "You should consider yourself lucky. By the look of it, you wouldn't have lasted another day or two."

Looking over myself, I'd say he's right. I'm skin and bones, with an empty stomach and a concussion. Now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised I've made it this long.

Slowly, I lean forward to pick up the canteen thing. I can feel liquid inside, but I don't see a way to use it. It's a rectangular shape with no discernible opening.

"Uh, hmmm..."

"Mmph, whaf?" He looks up from whatever he's eating.

"There's water in here, right? How do I open it?"

He swallows. "Oh." He leans over and slides his finger across the top. A small opening appears. "There. It's got some nutrients in it that should help, just drink it slowly."

"Mhmm." I do as I told. Maybe it's because I'm so dehydrated, but this water does taste pretty rich. It's almost heavy.

I choke on it for a moment, but swallow it down soon, not wanting to waste any of it. I smack my lips a bit, as if it's alcohol.

"You okay?" He looks a bit worried

"Y-yeah, just a bit strong."

"Just drink it slowly."

I nod, a tad embarrassed for my lack of coordination.

Regardless, I'm thankful for the drink.

My throat even starts to feel better in just a few minutes.

Not wanting to drink it all myself, I mimic what he did earlier to close the canteen.

Having studied me for a moment. "Hmm... you know, on second thought." The wolf reaches over, and takes the package he gave me. "I'm just going to take a guess that, judging by how you reacted to that water, you could use something a bit lighter to eat."

He rummages once again in his bag, before handing me a small parcel. "That should be a bit lighter. It doesn't really taste like much but it's got some protein."

Curious, I reach over and pick it up. It feels like it's wrapped in paper, though there's no labels. Even with what little strength I have, I open it fairly easily.

What's inside kind of looks like saltine crackers, but brown inside of manila. I lift one up and smell it. It's like beef jerky, but only faintly.

If I'm being honest, they don't look very appetizing.

Beggars can't be choosers though. I take one of the cracker things and bite into it. Thankfully, he's right, it doesn't taste like much. A little salty and a bit sweet, but not much else. Definitely the texture of a cracker. I'm just glad I got something to drink.

After a few minutes of eating, I look over to the wolf. He's enjoying his meal, at least I think he is.

Man, how did I end up here?

Now that I have time to think, I realize something. I don't recognize his voice from the ones I heard before. I decide to speak up about this. "Oh, right. I think there were people who left me here, but I can't really remember."

The wolf looks over me with a curious look. "Do you remember anything about them?"

"Uhh, no. Not really. Just a little bit of conversation, probably right after I got this dent in my head." I pat the crumbs off my shirt, and hold up the jacket I woke up with. "But I have this, but that's it"

The wolf looks it over, before he grabs it from my hands and smells it.

He then scrunches his nose. I guess he didn't like how it smelled, because he balls it up and tosses it to the side. "I think it would be best to leave it here. Take my word."

"Oh, okay." I start thinking to myself.

Whoever left that for me, I think they had my best interest in mind. Their voice seemed reassuring at least. Although, to be fair, they did leave me here like this. I should be more careful, a voice isn't enough to judge a character. Oh, wait.

"What's your name?" We had such a shaky start that I completely forgot to ask.

"My name? Hmm." He pauses, and then sighs. "... Cooper. Just don't tell anyone."

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions, you know that?"

"To be fair, you're making it hard not to."

"Just eat your food."

"Okay."

Once again I do as I'm told, sitting in this strange alley with this strange beastman, eating this strange food. I wonder how Damion would react to this situation if he were here with me? Bet he'd try to carry me so we could get as far from this place as possible.

A little fragment flashes through my mind of Damion giving me a piggyback ride. I think he convinced me to play basketball with him, and he whooped my butt. I remember being tired, just not as much as I am now.

I sigh.

I really miss his piggyback rides.

"I don't think this Resoom place is my home. It's not much, but I have some memories of where I lived." I mumble

"Oh?" He replied

"Mhmm. I just don't know how to make sense of all of this."

"I'm not surprised." He says nonchalantly.

"I just know one thing... I really want to go home."

"Well, as far as I'm aware, Resume is your home." He pauses. "Even if it's not, Resume is known for getting people back to where they belong."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Resume is a hotspot for humans. Almost a sanctuary. I'm sure they could get you back to wherever you came from."

"I hope so."

Cooper flicks his ear at that. I guess he can sense my dejection, though I'm not really hiding it.

"Where do you come from?"

"Nowhere worth mentioning." He dodges my question and stands up, listening intently.

...

"I think it's time we head out. How are you doing?"

"Uhh, well, better, but I don't think I'm in any condition to move around too much."

"Can you walk?"

I grunt as I try to stand up.

It wasn't much, but that combination of water and protein crackers is at least giving me enough strength to stand and walk a bit. "Kind of, but I don't think for very far or long."

"We'll take breaks, and if it comes to it, I can carry you."

"Okay." I stretch, popping all my joints again, but this time it feels really good. Just glad to be off my butt for a bit.

"I should mention it, when we're out of the alley, it'd be best to keep talking to a minimum."

"Why?"

Cooper's stance shifts, looking toward the opening of the alley, then back at me. "There are people trying to find you, as we speak."

"And that's bad?"

"Very. I can't disclose much, but I'll say this: your life will be a living hell if they find you."

Maybe it's just because I'm getting more lucid, but I'm not really fazed by that. That kinda worries me.

"So wait, are you under contract?"

"In a sense. As I've said. I've done lots of escort missions. It tends to be easier the less people know."

"That doesn't sound skeevy or anything..."

Cooper looks out of the alley, then back at me. "Look. There's a lot out there, and with your current mental state, I don't think it'd be a good idea to overwhelm you."

"Maybe, I dunno." I close my eyes for a moment, and take a deep breath. "Being left in the dark ain't much better."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure you've been through worse." His encouragement is not very effective.

"Wouldn't know."

Cooper actually chuckles at that, before returning his gaze to the alleyway opening. "Hmm, gotta do this in a way that's not suspicious."

"I think I'll leave that to you."

"Didn't really offer."

"Fair enough." A smirk forms on my lips

After about five minutes, he manages to remove most of the boxes fairly quietly. We're free to leave the alley.

I'm both nervous and excited. "You said we shouldn't talk, right?"

"Only if absolutely necessary, whisper if you need to, I'll probably hear it."

"Uhm... Can we write?"

"Do you have an Axiom?"

"A what?"

"I'll take that as a no." He looks bored. And point to his bracelet. "I can communicate through this via text, but that's it."

"What about pen and paper?"

Cooper looks at me as if I said something truly bizarre. "I don't know how to write like that."

Wait, what? I didn't use them much outside of class, but I at least know HOW. "Uh, okay."

"You do?" He scoffs. "Weird."

What the- like you're one to talk! I think to myself, grumbling.

"Oh, right." He looks over at me again, I'm slowly getting used to that. "What should I call you?"

"Huh? Oh uh, I'm not sure." The thought hadn't crossed my mind, what do I call myself?

Cooper pauses again, thinking. "Well, until you come up with something, I'll just call you Human."

"Okay."

Before we officially venture out, we do a bit of cleaning in the alley.

Cooper tells me we should try to avoid leaving anything behind, sans that jacket he tossed. Thankfully, there's not much. Just the wrappings from our food, and-

"Oh." I forgot Cooper's other gun. It'd definitely lead to trouble if we left something like that lying around. As I'm about to try and pick it up, I think to myself.

Is it a good idea to touch something like this?

"Hey Cooper, you left your gun over here. Is it okay for me to pick it up?"

"Oh, good call. Yeah, the safety is on, just try not to slide anything on it."

Slide anything? On a gun?

Okay, I know my motor skills are a bit rusty, but I should be able to pick up a gun without firing it, right? I gulp.

I'm hovering my hand over it, inches away, before a yellow arm invades my vision.

"Relax, you're not gonna set it off." The wolf casually picks it up and twirls it. "See?"

"Mmm, if you say so."

"Here." Cooper then carefully takes my arm, and plants the pistol into my hand.

It's cool to the touch, and smooth. It almost feels like a smartphone screen. My grip is firm on it, and I don't want to drop it. Still, I do turn it around slowly, getting a decent look at it.

It looks cool. It's not what I would normally picture a gun to look like, though. It's sleek, and pretty light.

However, it's still a gun, and I don't trust myself with it. "It's uh, neat. Here, take it back."

Cooper takes it and holsters it back at his hip. "I guess giving you a self-defense weapon is out of the question."

"Would that be necessary?"

"In your position, yes."

"Why does whoever they are want me so bad?"

"Classified."

"Figured."

"You ready to head out?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He takes out his bracelet, or Axiom, and starts to tap away at it. Now that I'm close, I can kind of make out what he's doing. The screen is pretty clear, even while being somewhat translucent.

I can't make out a lot though, it looks blurry, almost as if censored. "You can read that?"

"I can, you can't" He swipes away the screen. "No offense, but I'm not going to register you in it."

"Uh, okay?" Whatever that means.

"We're gonna head to a nearby plaza. It's late, but there should be a shop open."

"For what?"

"I figured you could use a change of clothes." He grimaces. "Glad I just got paid."

"You don't have to do anything, I'll manage."

"That's nice of you, Human, but it's more out of necessity. Your current getup would be suspicious to just about anyone."

I look down at what I'm wearing. He has a point. Although I'm not sure what kind of fashion they have here. If I could choose, probably something with sleeves.

"Do you have any suggestions?" The scars along my arms and legs are kinda off-putting, especially to me.

"Yeah, I'm not the person to ask about clothes. We'll figure it out when we get there."

"Okay." We both look over the alley, making sure it's empty enough.

"Alright, let's get moving. Tug on my sleeves or something if you need anything. And remember, keep quiet."

"Okay"

With that, we make our way out of the alley.