Kofi slumped at his desk, staring at the blank screen. A headache crept in as commissions from his new client piled up—monster-themed. He drew humans. He couldn’t tell a goblin from an ogre if his life depended on it. He'd put this off for a week, and somehow, Terry hadn’t bailed yet, but Kofi knew his time was running out.

"Fucking hell," he muttered, staring at his past work—sleek human illustrations, both lewd and safe-for-work. But monsters? Not a clue. He cursed his parents’ “monster activism” phase.

A memory surfaced—his parents chaining themselves to the gate of a research facility, screaming about monster rights. His life was like that: his parents bouncing between causes, while he got stuck cleaning up after them.

A knock on the door snapped him out of the memory. He checked the clock—it was late. Dragging his feet, he trudged to the door. His parents had been gone a while; maybe they’d finally come back. And he opened the door. What he saw was... Unexpected. Even for his family. Someone—definitely not human—stood on the porch.

“Kofi, I see you’ve met our special new guest!” His mother, Bonnie chirped. He turned to see his parents lugging suitcases from the family van, looking annoyingly pleased with themselves. “We brought this lovely specimen home, they've been living in a research facility for a while. But now, they're going to be staying here with us, we'll be needing your help.” his dad, Joe, added.

Kofi’s stomach dropped. You’ve gotta be fucking kidding. Not only was he stuck with this monster, but now he had to babysit them? He glared at his parents, resentment bubbling up. “Great,” he muttered, crossing his arms. “Exactly what I needed.”

His parents beamed like they’d just won a prize. Kofi felt the weight of his fate crush him. As they shuffled inside, he stole a glance at the creature. Something about their anatomy caught his artist's eye. Could be cool reference material... He shoved that thought aside. Bigger issues at hand. “Alright, guess you’re stuck with me,” he said flatly.