Lunch. It was quite terrifying to see so many people, so many super, in one place when he first came here. The tables were so full of students that it was hard to tell those apart from those not… It was always just a loud cacophony of chaos that always threatened to overload his senses. The fact that there hadn’t been a single fight since only shocked him more.

But, in the end, he’d somehow gotten used to it. He gorged on the food in front of him, more than he had ever ordered in the school before. There was an entire tray of eggs and breakfast sausages on the side, and six biscuits with a side of some kind of soupy gravy. It was all delicious, but he was in no mood to be enjoying himself at that point. The entire time, he hadn’t been able to find that smart bastard.

It only made it worse that after lunch the school was going to kick everyone out.

Apparently, a single Ego-death was enough to make it so the school could only work for half the day for the next week… How the students and staff could allow for such a weak show of authority, Liam wasn’t sure. But it meant that he wasn’t allowed to put that super-genius in a pit. It meant he had a new plan now, though. He wanted to lash out and break something, specifically a pale-looking kid nerd with a fat mouth, but that would be against what his new objective was.

He was going to make a goddamn friend, and he was going to do it by tomorrow.

If that Leonard kid thought he was so pathetic that he had to warn the rest of the class, then all he had to do was prove them wrong, right?

Right?

He looked around the cafeteria. The place was massive, and yet still kids were so packed in that some were stuck together like sardines in a can as they excitedly chattered away. He could hardly see a single spot without some goddamn kids in the way… And it made the fact that his table was empty all except for him just that more depressing.

The whole of the school was eating right now, so the cafeteria was just that much fuller, too… He was used to it since Elliot hadn’t had lunch at the same time as Elliot, but today it hurt just a bit more than usual…

Whatever. Lunch had soon ended and, along with the silent few minutes Liam had gone to class to get his things, so had school. He was walking back home today, a sad realization that had come to his mind only then. His mother had not known it had been a half day, probably. …She also hadn’t told him about school being optional, though, so the woman might just have had a grudge against him.

Either way, he was forced to walk.

At least he had a general idea of where to go, despite the city’s attempt to stop him. The place was so bright and filled with color and different that it was almost debilitating to go through. It also felt weird to be outside the area in his school uniform, and his face out in the open, but that was neither here nor there.

He walked past what seemed to be a game center. From the outside kids were in there shooting oversized, orange weapons that seemed like guns at a screen full of green, decaying human beings. ‘Zombies’, were their name, Liam remembered. There had been games like that back in district 2 as well, but no one had really used them due to how hard the maintenance had been to keep them.

He’d only been raised watching salvaged movie disks, along with his old friends…

A huge group of small children rushed past him, and he jumped to the side in shock. He watched a couple of them run into the game center while the rest spread up towards the city block, all going to some other store with more confidence than Liam ever could. No one around him seemed to mind the little hive mind, so it must have just been Liam who found it a scary concept. Whoever’s great idea it was to leave children unsupervised in this crazy, power-filled city, must have had a damn good trust in this district.

Idiots.

If people like Liam were allowed to live here, then that trust should have been thrown out long ago… Great, now he really ruined his mood. He kept walking, no longer in the mood to reminisce about the past. He tried bringing himself back to the present and forgot about his darker thoughts, no longer feeling nostalgic. The walk home was gonna be hell if all he thought about was depressing shit like this, he realized.

He wished he had something to take the edge off-

Fuck. No, absolutely not.

He walked faster, shoving his hands in his pocket with a snarl. Despite his look, he felt panicky. It had been months since he had those thoughts, and he had assumed they’d been gone for good. He’d literally just gone through death and hadn’t felt the itch, so why did this moment make him feel like that? Maybe he was thinking too much into it? It was just a passing thought, and it wasn’t like he wanted to do anything particularly bad.

It was just a thought, yeah…

The trek through the city was silent, even after he got lost a couple times. He almost thought about stealing another bike before he found the area where all the houses fit together. After that it was only about an hour more until he found the house that was his… only because there was a cat clawing at the front door. He could tell from the half-cubed bush and the random property damage that it was definitely his, so the cat was a weird addition.

It wasn’t even meowing, just scratching at the door in an almost melancholy way.

But that didn’t change the fact that it was damaging his property.

“Dumb cat. That’s not food.” He nudged it away with a foot, and it looked up at him and meowed something terrible like Liam kicked it with all his heart. It fell to the floor onto its back and continued its pained cries, and Liam had to look around to see if there was any witnesses. …Little cretin was trying to gain pity points, huh? He sighed, reaching over to pet it on the head. It responded with a happy meow, leaning into the hand with a satisfied expression on its face.

“Mreowww…”

…Damn. It was fluffy as all hell, with a golden color to it that reminded him of his own eyes. What a cute thing.

Oh well.

He grabbed it by the scruff to make sure it couldn’t get away, and reached its hand under its stomach to pick it up. It didn’t react for a moment, looking more confused than anything as it hung off his arms. “Cute little bug, aren’t you?” The cat meowed defensively, pawing halfheartedly at his nose. It was almost like it understood him… Liam chuckled, wondering what kinda person owned such a well-trained animal. Usually, in the badlands you just took in a stray, starving animal and hoped you fed it fast enough before it keeled over and died.

Then it would just die anyway in the next Ego purge.

This little thing? It was well-fed, and its well kept fur didn’t have any bare spots or scars, so it probably didn’t even have any competition around these parts. Even if it was lost, it could probably find its way in this world just fine. He made it to the street at that point, and tossed the cat like it was a bag of trash to the curve, earning a howling yelp from it as it soared through the air. He laughed when it fell gracefully on its feet and turned to him with anger, yowling its little ears off as it stretched to look bigger.

It was starting to look a bit less adorable now. “Pst pst! Get the hell out of here. We don’t got food for you, so scram!” Liam shouted, stamping his foot on the ground to make some noise. It did the opposite, charging at him like it wanted to fight. He hesitated for a second, unsure whether kicking a cat was a crime in this district. It was enough for the cat’s next move to catch him off guard.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

It turned into a goddamn horned thing.

Gaining about an extra 100 pounds, the cat turned into a white ram with massive, curved horns, slamming into his stomach with enough force to push him to the ground. It wasn’t painful, even by normal human standards, but he still felt the pain of his pride being stomped on as he looked at the creature. It looked down at him with a grim look in its eyes, and then something equally terrifying happened. As the ram’s legs formed extra appendages and it went up on its hind legs, Liam almost prepared for a fight. And then it turned into a recognizable form.

A form with blonde hair and blue eyes, with the same ram horns still on top, looking at him with a frown on their face. Shit. It was Elliot, his school buddy…

Who Liam had made sure never knew his address.

“You don’t treat cats like that, Liam! I thought that was common sense!”

Liam’s eyes were probably never as wide as they were now.

___________________________________________________________

He was mad.

“Ah, come on Elliot… I said I was sorry. Are you ok? Come on, let me see…” The scary-eyed boy muttered, trying to look at him. Elliot turned away from his friend in mock anger, not being able to hide his thankful smile as they took his arm and head to check for any marks. They were gentle as they held him, as if they thought they’d leave a bruise otherwise. Where was this gentleness at these last few months, when they were constantly making fun of him?

“Geez. ‘Least you ain’t got any marks… that would have messed with me. Seriously, I wouldn’t have done that if I had known it was you…” The words were kind and sincere, with a sad tilt to them like they really, truly regretted hurting him. It made his heart warm, but …Elliot furrowed his brow, unsure how he was supposed to take that last part. That wasn’t the apology he wanted, since it meant they’d have thrown the cat either way.

“It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t me, Liam… You threw me- er- You threw a cat! I wouldn’t be happy if you did that to anything alive!”

Liam raised an eyebrow at that, a small thing Elliot noticed the person did when they wanted to act mischievous. The boy with golden eyes came close, close enough to feel his warmth. “Even a bug? What if I was swatting it off you?” They grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer, placing a hand in front of Elliot and wiggling it to make it look alive. It came slowly closer and closer to Elliot, about to reach his face. About to touch him. “I’d be a hero, right?”

Elliot finally couldn’t take it, pushing at the golden-eyed boy’s chest and arm in a futile attempt to make them go away. He let the bandaged hand brush his face as he did so, though. “E-even then! Life is precious, Liam!” Liam backed off with a sigh, earning Elliot a second of easy breathing. They just laughed in the background, acting as if nothing had happened…

Even though Liam was usually happy around Elliot, it was still hard to see them in such an easygoing mood. Usually, they kept their eyes hardened, always looking around as if they were wary of something catching them by surprise…. It took Elliot a moment before realizing he was just staring again.

Their eyebrows were curved slightly at the ends, with a nick on the left side. The details made it hard to not notice whenever Liam moved them, which they did a lot. The scary-eyed boy was strangely expressive despite the rumors about him. They were always on about how Liam was emotionless, except for the times when they turned right back on their word and talked about how he was always angry and violent…

Well, one of the rumors was sorta right, at least.

He had asked Liam a while ago if they had styled their eyebrows, which earned him having his head slapped. They had told him ‘only girls and Jit-somethings’ did that, which only gave Elliot even more questions. That had earned him a couple more painful noogies, and a quick explanation that basically melted down to, ‘No way in heck am I telling you that.’ It was frustrating, but even those moments were kinda nice in a way.

Liam was just too mysterious to ignore. It made the way they acted just that much more endearing. It felt like he was closer to them than anyone else in school, and it made it so Elliot still wanted to be their friend. He fought the redness from his cheeks and took a deep breath. Liam was always like this, trying to make him look like a downright fool…

Right now, though? Elliot had the upper hand! It was the first time in a long time since this had happened, so he wanted to milk it for as long as he could. Elliot frowned again, crossing their arms in denial. “You still haven’t said you wouldn’t do it again!” He saw the golden-eyed boy frown, before turning into a sad look. “Please, Elliot… I’ll buy you an ice cream or something, or like… A phone. Everyone has a phone in school, right? Do you have one?”

Elliot froze, then laughed at the ridiculous words. How was Liam able to joke around like that even with that sad tone? They seemed serious, too, like they’d really… really… do it.

No way.

“You’re not serious, right?”

Elliot felt crazy for even thinking they were acting serious, but despite everything, he was met with an even bigger shock. The scary-eyed boy grinned, their golden irises shining through their dark eyelashes. “Or whatever else you want. I mean it… I don’t want you being mad at me.” The street suddenly became silent, and Liam and Elliot stared at each other for a moment.

Both were thinking the other was way too easy to manipulate.

______________________________________________________________

“You can’t just buy anything people ask you to in an attempt to have them forgive you, Liam!!” Elliot shouted with a pout. Liam just grinned, ignoring Elliot’s little outburst as they walked side by side down the street. The kid had spent that last couple of minutes chastising him for trying to bribe his friendship, and Liam couldn’t help but think it a dumb lesson. If he had money, why not use it for the people he cared about? “Why’s money so important? It’s not coming with us when we die, you know?”

At first, Liam had been thinking it was a matter of pride, but as the argument went on it seemed the kid was trying to look out for him. It was actually pretty cute. “People will walk all over you! There are people like that! I’ve seen videos!” Liam chuckled, placing a hand on the kid’s head as they walked. The horn had long since gone away, which was unfortunate since Liam never got a chance to touch them. “You don’t wanna walk over me? Why not? You could get a lot of fancy gifts like that, you know?”

Elliot only seemed to get redder in frustration.

“Why would I- Why would… No! ‘Cuz t-that’s wrong! You don’t even have a phone! Do you know what they cost!?” Liam shrugged, remembering seeing them on the way back home. “Like… a thousand dollars, right? I could get that for you, I’ve got the money. I’ve been saving up.” Liam said with a smile. They’d been the same cost in the badlands, though they weren’t anywhere near as fancy as the ones in the store. You needed a phone if you wanted to have a good chance during Ego-purges, and they had to work even without satellites, so they had to be big and clunky…

On the contrary, these utopian phones were slim enough to fit into your pocket, and had glass screens that you could touch, something he’d seen the kids at school use without buttons or anything. He had around three thousand at home lying around, and even though he didn’t want to admit it, the kid had basically saved him from being alone with his thoughts a lot of times. “I wanted to meet up outside like this sometime, Elliot. Thought it’d be neat to hang out, just the two of us… I always wanted to give you something as thanks, too.” That, along with the fact that they had made his school life bearable all this time and…

Well, it was worth a gift, right?

“What!? I’d do it anyways! I-It doesn’t matter if… If! Graagh!” The kid turned with a red face and punched him in the chin, and all of a sudden his sight flickered. He was thrown back with the sudden strength of the punch, barely keeping himself on his feet. It had been with enough force to have actually caused if Liam hadn’t been an Ego by now.

Elliot seemed to have realized his mistake.

“No! Ah! L-Liam!? No!!”

Elliot had run up to Liam and placed their arms around his waist, making it harder for Liam to reorient himself properly. “Are you ok??! Liam!! I'm so-o so-orry-y!!” He groaned, pushing the screaming, crying kid away as he stood back up. “I’m fine, kid. Get back a bit, I don’t want you getting dirty.” Liam said in a nasal voice. Elliot must have been worried, but Liam didn’t want any blood to get on their shirt. Liam wasn’t too hurt, just a bit scuffed on the face. Setting his nose back in place, Liam waited until the regeneration fixed him enough to breathe before he spoke, not realizing the kid had been rambling beside him.

“-rry I forgot I was still half goat and I didn’t know I could do that… I… Liam…?”

Liam wiped the blood away on his bandaged hands, making sure his face was somewhat clean. Some of the blood had gotten into his mouth as well, and he was surprised by its oddly sweet taste. Didn’t blood taste like metal? Eh, whatever. What was more important now was fixing the look of shock on his little buddy’s face.

“See, dude? Everything’s fine so don’t-”

“Ah!? You became an Ego…” Elliot’s eyes couldn’t have been wider as they spoke, staring at his dark, clawed hands like they had done something besides merely being a different color. There were tears in their eyes, and even though he knew those were from hurting him it still hurt to see them like that. Liam fought to force a grimace from appearing on his face as he felt his heart shake. He didn’t want to lose his only friend in this place. That’d be the final straw. “No, dude. It’s not what you think, It was just an accid-”

“I… I knew it…” Elliot murmured, still rubbing the tears out of their eyes. It took Liam a few seconds to comprehend what they just said, and another few to figure out what the hell to respond with.

“Ah?! What!?”

…Smooth.