May 17th, 2013
It first seemed like it was going to be a normal day for Spongebob. The frycook stepped down from his room, having just pulled up his pants, only to find the redhead fox human girl he had recently invited into his home scarfing down Kelp Jerky from his fridge. It had been exactly a week since Emi had moved into Spongebob's home, and it had been rather stressful for the sponge.
Emi was a good roommate and tried her best to help around the house, but Spongebob had to hide her from his friends so as to not cause panic. Despite that, she got along great with both him and Gary. Spongebob walked up to her and asked her,
"How do you like the Kelp Jerky?"
Emi swallowed her kelp jerky and replied,
"Yep! It's pretty good! But…do you have fried tofu?"
"To…Fu?"
Emi's ears perked up in surprise as she exclaimed to Spongebob,
"You don't know what Tofu is?!"
'Um…no…"
Emi thought how to explain the concept of Tofu to Spongebob, and then finally told him,
"Well…it's basically condensed soy milk that people press into blocks of different firmness. Fox spirits like me especially like it fried."
"Hey, I think I can get Soy milk at the local Barg'N Mart."
"Can I come with you? I want to see more of this place."
"Of course!"
Spongebob and Emi then stood up and headed out the door, Spongebob saying to Gary on the way out,
"Take care of yourself, little buddy! Don't get into too much trouble now!"
Gary meowed in response, and Spongebob and Emi stepped out onto conch street. Emi looked around in amazement, having never stepped out of Spongebob's house until now. Spongebob pointed at Squidward's house and told her,
"That's my friend Squidward's place. He can be a bit cranky, but I know he cares deep down."
He then pointed to Patrick's house and said,
"And that's my friend Patrick's place. He isn't the brightest, but he means well."
Emi nodded and walked off behind Spongebob. As they did so, she looked around at the buildings in amazement. The bottomites looked at her in confusion, but Spongebob held her hand close. Emi blushed immensely at this and pulled her hand away, leaving Spongebob confused. Eventually, they reached the Barg'N mart and stepped inside.
Emi looked around in awe as Spongebob told her about the various foot products they had. Eventually they took out the soy milk, and as they scanned it, Spongebob couldn't help but notice Emi wagging her tail happily. He smiled at this and put the milk carton in a bag, walking off with Emi. Once they returned home, Spongebob got out the soy milk and began preparing it based on what Emi told him.
Once he finished the tofu itself, he began marinating it and placed it in a pan, holding that pan over the stove and waiting as it cooked. He noted that it smelled really good. After 15 minutes of waiting, the tofu was finally ready, so Spongebob placed it in a bowl and walked to Emi, who was holding 2 chopsticks in her hands. Spongebob placed the tofu down on the table and asked Emi,
"Is this it?"
She nodded gleefully and dug in, munching on the fried tofu like no tomorrow. Spongebob chuckled at this and said to Emi,
"Wow, you really like that stuff don't you?"
Emi looked at him, her face stuffed with tofu, and nodded cutely. Spongebob smiled and asked,
"Can I have some?"
Emi thought for a moment and then used her chopsticks to pull one of the tofu pieces out of her mouth, holding it out to Spongebob. Spongebob looked at it for a moment and then munched on it, his lips being on both chopsticks. Both his and Emi's eyes widened at this, and they started blushing. Despite this, the 2 lingered for a brief moment before Spongebib drew his mouth away and munched on the tofu.
Once he was done, he licked his lips and remarked,
"Hmm. not bad."
Emi smiled at this reaction and giggled like a child, causing Spongebob to smile. However, Emi then suddenly gained a look of sadness and turned away from him. Confused, Spongebob asked her,
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Emi, her eyes starting to tear up, told Spongebob,
"I'm sorry…but the way you ate that tofu reminded me of….how mama used to feed me when I was little…before…"
Spongebob could see how Emi was crying, and thought that it might have something to do with what she said about her parents when they had first met. He wondered what he could do to make her feel less upset, but then thought back to what his own mother used to do whenever he got upset. Spongebob then held his arms out and wrapped Emi in a big hug. startling the fox spirit.
However, she didn't try to push him off. Instead she just sat for a moment before grasping Spongebob tightly and beginning to weep. Spongebob didn't say a word during this and simply held her, letting her let out all of her repressed sadness. Once she stopped crying, Spongebob asked,
"Are you ok now?"
After a few more moments, Emi shakily nodded. Spongebob then asked her,
"Tell you what; How about we play some eels and escalators?"
"...What's that?"
"It's a board game. Have you ever played board games before?"
"Um…no…"
Spongebob gasped and grabbed Emi's hand, telling her,'
"Then I'll have to teach you! Come on!"
Spongebob then dragged Emi to a closet in Spongebob's living room. Confused, Emi asked Spongebob,
"Um…why are we here?"
Spongebob told her,
"This is where I keep all the board games! I'll show you what they are!"
He then reached into one of the boxes and pulled out Eels and Escalators. He set the game on the floor and took it out of the box. Once the game was fully ready, Spongebob began walking Emi through it. The 2 played for hours, and although there was some frustrated cussing on Spongebob's end, they ultimately had great fun.
After many hours of playing eels and escalators. Night Time eventually fell. Spongebob got up and told Emi,
"Well, I'd better go to sleep. I've got work to do tomorrow."
"Work?"
"Yeah, I work at this place called the Krusty Krab. Maybe I'll bring you there someday."
Emi wagged her tail excitedly at this suggestion and asked,
"Can we go tomorrow?"
Spongebob frowned at this notion and replied,
"Sorry, but probably not. I'm not sure how everyone will react to seeing you."
Emi's tail and ears drooped at this news, which made Spongebob feel bad for her. To make her feel better, he told her,
"Hey, I'll bring you someday! Pinky promise!!"
Spongebob held out his pinky, and after telling Emi how a pinky promise worked, the 2 shook pinkies. Emi was quite enthusiastic in the pinky shaking, and Spongebob giggled at this. He the headed upstairs and told Emi,
"Good night, Emi."
"Good night!"
Spongebob then finished waking up the steps and shut the door to his room. After looking at the door for a few moments longer, Emi stood up and walked to her little sleeping mat, which Spongebob had bought for her so that she wouldn't have to sleep on the couch. She then lay down and curled up, hugging her tail.
She remembered back to her childhood, and how her parents would curl around her whenever they all slept. But that also made her think of…no. She wouldn't think about that. This was the here and now, and she would spend this time with Spongebob. As she thought about him, she smiled. That sponge had gladly taken her in despite her being so different from him and only knowing her for a few minutes.
She had never had a true friend before, but she could say with confidence that Spongebob was her friend. With these happy thoughts flowing through her brain, Emi eventually went to sleep.
