Chapter Text
Josh decided he’d always been a little bit...strange. Not different, really. He was the same as any other person. He had goals, fears, likes and dislikes. He had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and the right number of limbs. No, no, he was just… strange. Something in his head was different. Something that allowed him to be called a superhero. Or a monster, depended on what you thought about it. A lot of people thought the latter was true.
Josh didn’t have a lot of friends, mostly because of his power. He didn’t understand that you weren’t supposed to tell someone that their ex was going to get back together with them, or that their dog was going to die in two weeks. Everyone always left him. That is, except for one person. His name was Tyler Joseph, and he was a little strange in the head too. He didn’t talk much; usually, it was just him and Josh at a table together, with no words being spoken. Tyler stared at his food and Josh stared at Tyler, and they both ate together. It wasn’t weird.
“Hello, Josh,” Tyler said in his small, high-pitched voice. This was different. Tyler usually just sat down. “How are you today?”
“I’m- I’m okay,” Josh stammered in surprise, trying to keep a calm expression on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” Tyler smiled. A small, shy smile that didn’t even include eye contact. Josh thought it was cute. Josh thought Tyler was cute, and everything he did, and everything he wore was cute. Today, Tyler was wearing a colorful shirt that was way too big for his skinny frame and black jeans. Cute. “So, I heard about your… um, power.”
“Oh.” Josh’s stomach did a backflip. “You didn’t know about that already? Everyone knows about that.” He was rambling. Josh told himself to stop. He didn’t. “Please don’t call me a monster.” Yeah, Josh. Perfect, he thought bitterly. “Sorry.”
“I wasn’t going to do that.” Tyler lifted his gaze and met Josh’s eyes, for the first time… ever. “I think it’s really cool, actually.” Not even a second later, Tyler was staring down at the table again. “Unless you don’t want me to think it’s cool.”
“No, it’s fine. Um, are you going to make me use it?”
“How does it work?” Here we go. Josh looked down at the table, which caused Tyler to hastily add, “You don’t have to talk about it if you d-don’t want to.” Josh glanced up and saw Tyler’s face going slightly pink. “It’s okay.”
“It’s fine,” Josh said after a few seconds. They both stood up to go get their lunch, which in itself caused some not-so-friendly looks from the tables surrounding. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. And I can use it on you.”
“Cool,” Tyler said, his face brightening a little bit. His eyes held a different, unreadable expression, however, and Josh wondered what he was thinking about. He wasn’t able to figure it out.
“See you tomorrow, Tyler.” Josh waved at Tyler, who smiled, but only with his mouth. His eyes were still cloudy. They went their separate ways then, to go to their next classes. Josh was pretty sure he had a class or two with Tyler, but Josh sat all the way in front, Tyler all the way in back, not even paying attention. When Josh looked back at him during class, he’d be writing furiously on a notebook with half its pages torn out. Sometimes he’d bring in a new one, write, and then tear the pages out at the end of class. It was strange. Tyler was strange. Josh liked it, though.
The next day, Tyler sat down at the table, and Josh sat across from him. Tyler stared at the table for a few seconds before he looked up at Josh, his eyes curious.
“Are you gonna show me your power?” he asked, tilting his head sideways slightly. Josh noticed how he sat in a way that would be considered kind of feminine, with one leg crossed tightly over the other, his hands in his lap. Today he was wearing a black tank top and leather jeans. Josh had to pay attention to where he was looking, or he’d find his eyes wandering down towards Tyler’s- “Josh?”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Josh stuttered. looking back up at Tyler’s face. “Sorry. I, uh, lost my train of… train of thought.”
“It’s okay.” Tyler watched Josh as he stood up and walked to sit by Tyler. He didn’t lean away, which seemed like a good sign. “How does it work?”
“I just have to touch you.” Tyler’s eyebrows went up and Josh saw his muscles tighten up. “Are… are you okay with that?”
“Yeah,” Tyler murmured, relaxing a little bit and closing his eyes briefly. “Yeah, that’s okay.”
“You sure? You seemed kind of scared.” When Tyler nodded, Josh reached out to touch his friend’s shoulder, but he flinched away. “Tyler?”
“It’s- it’s okay. Sorry.” Tyler cautiously reached over and took Josh’s wrist, which took both of them by surprise. Tyler moved Josh’s hand to his shoulder, close to his neck, and rested it there. They didn’t take their eyes off each other. Josh’s vision faded to black, as it always did, and Josh waited, but no images showed up. Nothing showed up. Slowly, Josh removed his hand, his heart beginning to beat faster.
“I gotta go,” Josh announced, his voice hasty and nervous. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He stood up to leave, but Tyler grabbed his hand.
“Aren’t you gonna tell me what you saw? And we haven’t even eaten yet.”
“No, I’m...No. I can’t.” Josh’s hands were shaking now, his breathing growing unsteady. “Let me go, Tyler.” People were starting to stare; Josh could feel their gazes burning into his back. “Let me go.”
“Fine.” Tyler dropped his hand, and Josh apologized a few times before turning and running. He couldn’t tell Tyler what he’d seen. He couldn’t tell anyone.
Tyler had no future.