Natural Affinity

Questions

The rest of the day was quite fast from Fred's perspective. He seemed to get along with Tom really well, as they both found a common interest in magic and video games. They spent most of their time talking about the human world and playing on the "Blood X" console. They primarily played fighting games and went on to play collaborative ones. Fred noticed that some of the games were the same- if not, similar to some in his world.

He at least seemed to cope well, at least until the two bears went to bed and he was alone on the couch. Inside he was in a hurricane of emotions. So many different feelings were swirling around at once, each one trying to overtake the other and take control! It hurt him, but he didn't fully realize it until he met C. Before that, he was preoccupied with his fascination of the world he was in, but now it hit him like an oncoming semi.

He was in a whole new world, a place beyond his comprehension. It felt so surreal, but he knew it wasn't fake! He read stories of people being kidnapped, taken far away from home with almost no possibility of returning. Now, however, that was put on a much larger scale. He wasn't just away from home, he was away from everyone- no other human in sight. Nothing but bipedal animals that showed human intelligence and emotion, and they could very well kill him if they wanted to.

It scared him, and it plagued his mind constantly that night until his body fell into a silent embrace.

~~*~~

Morning came in a blur for the human, waking up drowsy and groaning. It was about ten, judging by the clock above the window. Going to the bathroom, he looked himself over in the mirror. His hair was disheveled and he had bags under his eyes. It wasn't a surprise, given how he felt last night.

After making himself look somewhat cleaner, he went to the kitchen, seeing Jack cooking eggs. The bear was wearing a green shirt with some jeans and shoes. Tom wasn't around, to the boy's slight dismay. He already liked his company, despite only knowing each other for under a day. Jack finally noticed him as he looked at the boy with a small smile.

"I see you're awake.", he noted as he turned his attention back to the pan.

"Mhmm.", the human replied sluggishly as he rubbed his eyes, still a bit dazed, "Where's Tom?"

"He has school today, so he won't be back until around four.", Jack replied as he pulled a few plates from the cabinet.

"I need to go soon as well, since I have work. Lex said he might come over with the archaeologist who researched the tablet you touched. He said he wanted to find any possible links as to how you came here."

Fred couldn't say he was surprised. He recalled Lex telling him about the tablet being an artifact, so it was justifiable that they'd ask him questions regarding it. He didn't know much about it, but he could tell it was something ancient. Another thing was that he was bringing an archaeologist, which brought up the subject of the furries' history. From what he'd seen thus far, it seemed like a mirror of his own world- with a few minor changes.

While eating breakfast, Fred decided to ask Jack about his life, seeing that he barely knew anything about the bear. He didn't seem to mind, gladly talking about his time in the OSI. He was a very good agent, often going undercover to reveal underground crimes. He had to retire, however, as Tom's dad went on a trip. This left him in the bear's care for some time. They'd exchange letters checking on each other and talking about new discoveries.

The human was greatly engrossed in the tale. He never met someone with such an adventurous past before, so it was surprising that Jack had this history. It made him think back on his own past- including his own family. He got along with his parents to a T, but they never did anything to strengthen their bond. This mostly applied to his father, who had to work long hours sometimes and come home late. He never realized just how his life was until he found this world. He always had a constant mental rhythm, and he became so attached to it that he cut off his personal grievances. It gave him the illusion that he was fine when in reality..he wasn't.

~~*~~

About an hour and a half passed since Jack left for work. In that time, Fred decided to explore the house a bit more. He mostly focused on the upper level, taking care as to not tamper with anything. The hall had a number of pictures, some having Jack and Tom together, others with them individually. One that caught his eye had the two back-to-back in suits, wearing sunglasses and holding guns. It made him chuckle, knowing that the older bear must've had that kind of life before the younger came along.

After passing a bathroom and a spare closet, he found Tom's room. It was a bit small, but it still looked cool. A dresser sat near the door with a small TV on top, a bed on the opposite side with dark blue sheets. A door stood extruded besides the window, obviously a closet.

A few posters were on the walls, one depicting a black fox with purple eyes wearing a dark robe with gold borders. One of its eyes had what looked like a small red V inside it. Judging by the art style it was an anime, but not one he was familiar with. Not finding any other interesting elements, he moved on.

Next was Jack's room, which looked more spacious than the last one. A long dresser was situated on the same wall the door was, a flat screen TV atop it. In the middle and against the opposite wall was a bed. The sheets were a chocolate brown with black pillows. The closet sat to the left, a tall lamp on the other side. He was going to look around more when the doorbell rang.

Sprinting downstairs, he looked through the peephole to see Lex with two other furries. One was a red fox with green eyes. It was wearing glasses and a lab coat. The other was a brown coyote with grey eyes wearing a grey shirt and shorts. He could tell the fox was female due to her eyelashes, and the coyote was male as his eyes held a dominance in them- similar to when Hector questioned him. He was about to open the door when he heard them start talking.

"You sure it's harmless?", the coyote asked in a skeptical tone.

"He.", Lex chastised before replying, "And yes, he's just a little shy and confused about this whole thing like we are."

"Still, it's fascinating to see that the tablet actually functions- and it brought a new creature!", the fox added excitedly, "Oh, just thinking about the questions I could ask is making me excited!"

Nerd, the human thought with amusement as he opened the door. He didn't get far, as he was suddenly glomped in a bone-crushing hug.

"Fred!", he heard Lex say with what he could only imagine was a grin, "It's been ages!"

"Can't..breathe.", the boy managed weakly before getting released and panting. After a quick apology the other two furries were introduced. The fox, Joana, was the archaeologist that Jack mentioned earlier. The coyote, Zyon, was her husband, surprisingly. Fred did stumble upon a few pictures of interspecific couples out of curiosity, but it was a shock to see an example in person.

After the small dilemma was put aside, Joana started asking questions about how he found the tablet and what happened before he woke up in OSI headquarters. He relayed what he told Hector, this time including the engraved rectangle at the bottom. This caught the fox's interest, as she explained that the one she found lacked the engraving. This devolved into a small discussion of their respective worlds, up until the topic of magic came up.

"Wait... You mean magic?", the boy asked incredulously, "As in, 'teleportation, levitation, do-things-with-your-mind-that-are-completely-unheard-of'- that kind of magic?"

Joana giggled before nodding, "Yup. We even put a small bit of research into it, but we couldn't find anything on it until the tablet came into play."

"Whoa..humans aren't really capable of that. We usually think of magic as a concept only thought of in fantasy stories and dreams.", he paused to chuckle a little, "It's still a shock to see that it's real!"

"Same could be said for other worlds, and look what happened there."

Things started to slow down from there, with the two talking about varying topics and Lex chiming in occasionally. The whole time, however, Zyon didn't say anything. Fred often noticed that the coyote simply stared at him, his eyes having an intensity in them. It was different from the dominant glow in Hector's, and far deeper than the authority of C's. He could see a fire in them, a harmful one...

Did the coyote show resentment towards him?