Reservoir

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. The sun blinded my eyes. It was morning. I picked up the phone. It was Jesse.

"Hey Utah, I got some bad news." He says "My boss called me to work today."

I frowned. "What will we do then?"

"I don't know." Jesse sighs

I then got an idea.

"Can I join you at the market while you work?" I ask

There was a small pause before the hedgehog spoke, "If you want to, I guess. Just try not to be disruptive, and also please buy something if you're going to be there with me."

I agreed. Jesse picked me up in his truck. I rode with him and rode in the truck with him. We arrived at the market. I got out of his truck. We entered the market. A shiba-inu was already at the cashier. It was Bart, Jesse's co-worker.

He looked bored already.

"Hey Bart." I say to him

"Hey dude." He says to me "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to accompany Jesse." I tell him

"You going to buy something at least?"

"Yeah, I already told them to." Jesse answers

Bart nods and puts his head on the counter.

I browsed around the market while Jesse did his job of cleaning bathrooms and restocking. Nobody really visits the market, since Echo is a tiny town. I stood around as Jesse slowly took his time cleaning the bathrooms. He would spend a long time in there, taking his time to make it seem like he was really cleaning. Then, he would come out, restocking.

I stood around, looking at the merchandise displayed. All of it seemed rather expensive compared to other gas station markets. I noticed a weird stuffed animal, this one shaped like a bear with a rather large dick. A label on the back said it was an alchemist bear. I had never heard of such a thing. Who in the right mind would make something like that? I was mixed on whether or not to buy it.

I looked around. I didn't see a griffin, but I did spot a kodoko. That confused me. I didn't know what a kodoko was, so I had to ask somebody.

I stepped up to the cashier. "Excuse me," I asked Bart "What does a kodoko mean?"

Bart's eyes widened. He looked at Jesse, who shook his head.

"Beats me." Bart shrugs

I sighed. I didn't like oddities, they were odd.

"I'll take the chupacabra and the alchemist bear." I tell the dog

I pay for the figurine and the bear. Jesse's jaw dropped. He looked at me. I shrugged. Jesse sighed.

"You sure you want the bear?" He asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Okay, here you go."

Jesse handed me the bear. There was something about it that seemed very...off. It was a weird feeling. The bear felt oddly alive..

"Alright, time for lunch." Jesse said.

Jesse led me to the break room. It was dirty and grungy. There was trash on the floor and the smell of old Chinese food permeated the room. I sat down at the table. It took a long time for me to get used to the smell. Jesse got out his lunch from the fridge and sat down.

"So, why did you want to know about the kodoko?" he asked.

"I don't know. It seemed interesting." I told him.

He laughed. "It's a dog. A Japanese dog. An urban myth as well."

I frowned.

"What's American about a Japanese dog?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's a dog. Japanese dogs are cool." Jesse said.

I shrugged. I didn't really care.

We ate our lunch in silence. I was thinking about the kodoko. I wondered if it would be alright if I took it home with me. I had no money though, I had spent it all on the chupacabra figurine and the alchemist bear.

"Want some of my lunch?" Jesse asked me.

"Sure." I nodded

We ate together. Jesse forked up some pasta salad and fed it to me. I ate it. It was okay. Jesse went back and forth from feeding himself to feeding me. After we finished eating, we went back to work.

Jesse worked for a few hours. I wanted to leave the market, but Jesse convinced me to stay. He said we'd go soon. We didn't leave the market until nightfall. Jesse had his hands on my shoulder as we walked out. I didn't want him to let go. I liked it when he held me.

We got in his truck, and drove back to his house.

"Want to sleep over tonight? I got a book you can read." Jesse asked me