Chapter Text
Smitty was never a fan of anything scary. Yet here he was, in a random abandoned building probably miles away from the closest town. The full moon outside was helping a little, but not enough to completely reassure him.
He didn't really have a choice. It was either this or some random alleyway. And he didn't want the random alleyway.
Smitty took another hesitant step into the building, the floorboards creaking under his feet. The walls were stained slightly yellow, cobwebs clinging to the corners. The floor looked seconds away from collapsing in on itself. Smitty was surprised it hadn't done so already.
Despite the decrepit look of the building, it seemed almost... Taken care of. There wasn't a speck of dust on a single surface.
Smitty froze at this realization, grabbing the straps of his backpack. What if somebody else had already claimed this place? What if they attacked him for intruding!?-
Smitty sucked in a breath at the sound of something creaking, his eyes darting around as he tried to identify who was in the dark. Suddenly, something turned the corner, and Smitty felt all the breath in his lungs leave in an instant, his legs turning to jelly.
In front of him stood a giant beast, dark brown fur covering every surface of its skin. Smitty would have assumed it to be a brown bear--a very big brown bear--if not for the way it was standing on only its hind legs, its front paws gripping the wall the same way a hand would.
Its ear flicked as the monsters eyes locked on Smitty. Smitty found himself frozen in fear, his mind going a million miles a minute, unable to cling to anything except for an intense sense of dread. This was it. He got this far, and this is how he dies. In a random, abandoned house miles away from any semblance of civilization. This is it. This is-
"Grizzy?" a voice called out, a man appearing from around the corner a moment later. The huge bear turned to look at the man, crossing its giant arms in a way that should have looked unnatural, but somehow seemed completely normal on the beast.
The bear nodded its head in Smitty's direction, the man looking toward Smitty with wide eyes. Smitty finally found himself able to move, and took a step back. He didn't want to be involved with whatever the fuck this was.
"Hey, man, uh... I'll just be going. I didn't see any-"
"Grizzy, hold him down," the man suddenly said, pointing to Smitty as he looked at the bear, apparently named Grizzy. "Gently," he added.
And suddenly Smitty was on the floor, a giant bear standing over him. Would it be standing if it was usually on two legs and was now on four? Smitty felt a new wave of panic overtake him, his breath coming out in short, quick huffs. The bear was staring into his eyes, but that was all Smitty could see. Those strangely human eyes. Staring at him. Directly into his soul. Fuck.
-----
Smitty rubbed his forehead as he quietly whined in pain. What happened?... He genuinely couldn't remember, and opening his eyes didn't help much. He sat up, taking in the room around him. He was in a bed, the sheets slightly tattered, but functional.
The sun shone in through a window, thin drapes doing nothing to block the bright light. The floor was made of wooden floorboards, the walls a pale, sun stripped blue. The door on the wall opposite of the window was barely cracked open, the rest of the building still concealed.
Smitty rubbed his arms, curling in on himself and bringing his knees to his chest. Was he kidnapped? Is this how he was going to go? The last thing he remembered was finding an abandoned house in the middle of the woods, then he woke up here. Did he get jumped? Was someone else already here?...
Smitty shook his head, trying to shake off those thoughts. He was fine. He probably just found this room and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. And that's why he couldn't remember anything... Yeah...
"Fuck," Smitty mumbled, dropping his head to his knees. As if.
Smitty shot his head up at the sound of the door creaking open, his eyes wide as he waited for whoever it was on the other side to come in and finally decide they were done with him. Or did he walk into a cult? Or a murder house? Or?-
Two... Things walked in, stopping in the doorway as they looked at Smitty.
One looked human at first glance, but they felt... Wrong. Their eyes felt too perfect, yet Smitty couldn't tell you what color they were if he had an hour to stare at them. Their ears were just slightly too pointy, same with the tips of their fingers. Both were tipped a bright pink, probably being able to be described as hot pink, even. And trailing behind them was a long, thin tail, something similar to a rat tail almost.
The other... Thing, was barely human. A few flecks of skin could be seen here and there, but other than that it was all metal. It also had a tail, swaying behind it and letting out quiet ticks as each section moved. It had ears on its head, something that Smitty had no clue if they were more similar to a raccoon, a cat, or some other creature.
The thing that could almost have been human took a step closer, and Smitty realized he hadn't been breathing. He didn't know if he could. He was frozen in fear, his nails digging into the skin of his arms. The thing reached out, and Smitty's mind went empty.
The thing grabbed his hands, pulling them away from his arms and setting them at his sides. "Stop that," it rasped out, its voice so close to being normal except for the strange echo behind it. "You're going to hurt yourself."
"Uh... He's not breathing," the robot said, taking a step further into the room. The almost human's eyes widened, looking up at Smitty's face. They frowned, finally pulling their hands away from Smitty's arms.
"Hey, you're safe, okay? I need you to breathe, we don't want you hurting yourself," the almost human spoke, holding its hands out in a placating gesture.
Smitty sucked in a breath, bending forward as he coughed. He felt lightheaded. Fuck. He was going to die, wasn't he? He felt as tears started to race down his cheeks, and curled back into himself, burying his face in his knees as he wrapped his arms around his legs. They were going to kill him. These things were going to kill him then eat him and-
"Hey, hey, it's okay! Uh- Droid, help!?" the almost human said. Smitty could barely hear it over his own terrified sobbing. A moment later, there was a soft whirring to his right, and he shot his head up, locking eyes with the robot sitting next to him.
"Hey, buddy. You're safe, okay?" the robot said, gesturing to its ears as if to tell Smitty to do... Something. Smitty stared up at the fluffy ears in confusion, looking at the robot for some direction on whatever it wanted. He really didn't want to upset... These things.
"Go on, they're really soft," the almost human urged, reaching out from behind Smitty to touch one of the tips of the ears.
Smitty unfurled one of his arms from the ball he had become, hesitantly reaching out to touch the other ear. The warmth shocked him, but it was nice. It also made him realize just how cold he truly was. Along with how hungry. And thirsty. When was the last time he ate?...
Smitty pulled his hand back, curling back into a ball. The almost human settled on the other side of him, and Smitty tensed. He was trapped. Fuck. He couldn't escape. He couldn't move. He couldn't-
"Pezzy, back up!" the robot exclaimed, reaching over and pushing the almost human, who yelped as they dramatically fell to the floor. Smitty looked at the empty space, his eyes wide in shock. "Give the man some space, God!"
Smitty looked over at the robot, giving a small, thankful smile. The robot returned it, leaning back on its hands. Its tail swayed back and forth over the edge of the bed, one of its ears flicking.
The moment felt strangely... Calm. The almost human finally stood from the floor, sending the robot a quick glare before stretching their hands high above their head, their shirt riding up and revealing what almost looked like a tear in their skin, covered with a clear material, a pink liquid flowing underneath the surface.
"Welp, imma go tell Kryoz you're up," they said, dropping their hands back to their sides. "Keep an eye on him, Droid." And with that, they left, closing the door behind themself.
Smitty pursed his lips, wringing his hands out in front of him. The robot next to him kept its gaze on him, but it felt almost... Casual? Like it was ready to shoot up at a moments notice, but for now, it was relaxed.
"So," Smitty finally spoke, unable to look at the robot as he did so, "what... Are you?" The robot let out a shocked laugh, and Smitty looked over to see it sitting up, its tail laying over its legs.
"Thought you'd wait a while to ask that question," it said, brightly smiling. "I'm personally partial to the term Xandrian," it declared, making a dramatic gesture as it revealed the term.
"And... And that means?" Smitty asked, finally stretching out his legs, wincing at the pop they let out.
"Well... We originate as human, but over time we start to shift into something more... Inhuman. It affects some of us more than others, as you can see," the robot explained, gesturing to itself.
"You... Used to be human?" Smitty whispered in shock. The robot nodded, crossing its legs.
"Yeah. Started shifting a little while after highschool, Pezzy found me and Kryoz helped me through it," it explained, smiling fondly as it looked back on the memory.
"Did it hurt?" Smitty asked, wringing his hands together in his lap.
"For me? Not really. Mine was pretty slow, happened over a few months. The ears and tail were a pain, though. Those didn't hurt much, but they did take a lot of my energy. Was sick for like- a week! It sucked!"
Smitty let out a quiet chuckle, dropping his hands into his lap. He looked over at the door as it creaked open, the almost human from earlier entering again, a man behind him.
He had long brown hair, hiding his ears, and wore a simple hoodie, small, colorful scribbles covering the sleeves and hood. He looked down at Smitty, his arms crossed and face flat.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," he said in a monotone voice. The robot stood, walking over to stand next to the almost human. Smitty anxiously smiled, picking at his sleeve.
"Uh... Hello," Smitty said. The man stood there, silently watching Smitty's every move. "Uhm... I'm Smitty," Smitty tried, offering his hand for a handshake.
The man took it, finally giving the faint ghost of a smile. "Kryoz. Why are you here?" Smitty pulled his hand away, rubbing it against his arm.
"Well, I needed a place to stay and I found this house so-... Yeah." Smitty looked down at his lap as he spoke, wringing his hands together.
"Good news, then. I don't want you leaving."
"What?" Smitty asked, looking up at Kryoz in shock.
"You know too much. Simple as that." Smitty went to argue, before realizing that Kryoz was completely valid in his choice. He did know too much.
"Okay. I... I understand." At least he had a safe place to stay now. At least, he thinks it's safe?
"Good. Droid, would you want to get Grizzy? I don't think he remembers anything from when he first came in, so I want to have them actually meet," Kryoz said. The robot nodded, rushing out the door. The almost human looked toward where the robot left, and Kryoz nodded, the almost human quickly rushing out of the room to follow.
Kryoz sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his thighs. Smitty hesitated a moment before scooting closer, sitting next to Kryoz, dangling his legs off the edge of the bed. It was silent for a while before Smitty finally spoke.
"So... Are you also a... Xandrian?" Smitty asked, surprising himself at being able to remember the strange word. Kryoz looked over at him in shock, his arms falling limp at his sides.
"How do you know that word?"
"The, uh..." Now Smitty felt awkward for just calling it the robot one. "The one with the metal skin. It- uh... He told me that term."
"His name's Droid," Kryoz said, before taking a deep breath, running his hand down his face. "But yes, I am a Xandrian."
"Do you-" before Smitty could finish his question, Kryoz pulled back his hair, revealing the way his ears came to a point at the ends. They were deathly blue, appearing horribly frost bitten.
"Yes, I have features. Any other questions?"
"Did... Did yours hurt?" Smitty hesitantly asked. Kryoz dropped his hand, his hair falling back over his ear.
"Nah, not really. I was lucky." Smitty nodded, looking down at his lap.
"So... Grizzy? What?-" before Smitty could finish his question, a giant bear came lumbering in through the doorway, standing on its hind legs. Kryoz stood, making a dramatic gesture toward the bear.
"Smitty, meet Grizzy." Smitty was frozen in shock, stuck looking up at the immense brown bear.
"You're... Are you a Xandrian too?" Smitty whispered in disbelief. The bear sighed, rolling its eyes.
"Yes, I used to be human. Big surprise!" it exclaimed, crossing its arms in a way that should have looked unnatural, but didn't. Smitty shook his head, trying to reset his brain.
"No, sorry! Sorry, I'm just... Shocked. If anything, your kinda similar to Droid... I guess. Sorry, just trying to make sense of... Fuck, everything," Smitty rambled, looking down at his lap at the end of his sentence. This was so... Weird. What the fuck was even happening anymore!?
He jolted at a pinch on his arm, looking up at the almost human standing next to him. "You're not dreaming," they said, sending him a mischievous smile. The robot- Droid was standing next to them, Kryoz leaning against the wall next to the door.
"Well, I didn't get any sleep last night, so if you would all please leave?" Kryoz said, stepping closer. He held his hand out, helping Smitty up before softly pushing his back, directing him toward the door.
They all filed out, Droid closing the door behind them. Smitty felt cramped, standing in the small hallway surrounded by a bunch of inhuman creatures. Grizzy lumbered off, muttering something about hanging out with someone named Puffer.
"Uh... So..." Smitty started, pursing his lips in thought. He had no plan of where he was going with that.
"That was Kryoz's room. That's why he sent all of us out," the almost human explained, their tail swishing side to side behind them. "Now come on, there's a couple of other people here!"
They grabbed Smitty's hand, pulling him down the hallway and to a set of stairs, leading him down them. Droid followed behind them, every step of his sounding out with a soft tick.
Smitty just followed, already accepting his fate of not ever being able to leave. Not like he had anything to return to in the first place.
They led him outside, and he squinted against the sun. He blinked as he let his eyes adjust, his mouth dropping open in shock.
In front of them was a small lake, just small enough that he could see the other side, but easily large enough that he didn't think he could swim across it if he tried. Trees lined the edges, their branches dipping into the water. Fish swam underneath the surface, darting between the fauna.
The giant bear from earlier, Grizzy, lay on the lake's edge, talking to something just under the water's surface. Benches and chairs were scattered around the backyard, all facing the water.
Suddenly, the thing Grizzy was talking to poked out of the water, and Smitty froze in shock. It had fins on the side of its head, spikes laying flat starting from its neck trailing down its back. There were slits on its neck, currently tightly pressed closed.
"Puffer!" the almost human (Smitty really needed to learn their name) called out, waving to the spiked person. They turned, faint scales on their cheeks glinting in the sunlight.
"Hey, Pezzy-... Who's that?" Puffer asked, squinting at Smitty and immediately going on the defensive. His spikes rose on his back, the fins behind his ears laying flat against his head.
"He's gonna be staying with us! Come on, Smitty," Pezzy (Smitty finally learned his name!) said, grabbing Smitty's arm and pulling him toward the water's edge.
Puffer had ducked down, his eyes barely above the surface. He glared at Smitty, his hands resting on the wall of the lake. Smitty noticed how deep of a drop it actually was, taking a small step back. He never really liked water.
"Uh... Hi?" Smitty said, giving a small wave hello. Puffer pushed off the wall, his long tail trailing behind him as he swam off deeper into the lake. Smitty stood there in shock, looking over at Pezzy for some direction.
"He'll get used to you eventually," Pezzy said, shrugging. "He got used to Blarg-"
"What!?" Smitty yelled, whirling around and grabbing Pezzy by the shoulders. "Blarg!? Blarg- he's here!?"
"Uh... Yeah?- Wait, you know Blarg?-"
"He- he went missing! I haven't seen him in- oh my God," Smitty cut off, stepping back as he put his hand up to his mouth. "Blarg's here?"
Pezzy nodded, looking behind Smitty at Droid, who had stayed away from the water. Droid nodded, rushing off and vanishing inside.
Smitty closed his eyes as a sob escaped him, letting himself collapse to the ground. Hands caught his arms as he fell, softening the blow. Smitty wrapped his arms around himself, hugging himself as his body shook.
Blarg was here. His best friend, who had gone missing a couple years ago, was here. It had been so long... Did Blarg miss him as much as Smitty missed him? Why was Blarg even here!? Was Blarg... Was Blarg a Xandrian?
"Hey, you're okay, shh," Pezzy soothed, pulling Smitty into his torso. Smitty collapsed against Pezzy, hiding his head in the man's chest. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he tried to recenter himself.
He pushed off of Pezzy, wiping his sleeve against his eyes before looking up at the man. Pezzy was looking down at him with a deeply concerned expression, his arms held out in a silent offer.
"Sorry... Sorry, I just... Blarg went missing a couple years ago and... It's been hard. Without him." Pezzy hummed in sympathy, readjusting how he was sitting.
Smitty looked behind himself, cringing in embarrassment when he noticed Grizzy staring at them. Grizzy stood on all fours, walking over and collapsing at Smitty's side.
"Hey, man, I get it. We all had to leave our whole lives behind. He probably misses you too," Grizzy said, stretching out so his head was next to Pezzy's leg, his body pressed against Smitty's side.
"Aww, is someone tired?" Pezzy cooed, brushing a hand behind Grizzy's ear. Grizzy ducked away from the touch, sending Pezzy a playful glare.
"Yes. It's almost winter, you fucker," Grizzy said, swatting a huge paw in Pezzy's direction.
"Wait... You- you're affected by that kinda stuff?" Smitty asked. Grizzy turned to look at him, giving a small nod.
"Yeah, there's more downsides than just society hating us. I have to deal with my body wanting to hibernate, Droid can't touch water, Puffer can't leave the water, yada yada," Grizzy explained, before laying back down, resting his head on his paws.
"What about you, Pezzy?" Smitty asked, refocusing on Pezzy.
"Ah, I have horrible stamina to like... Everything. Also, wherever I may have hurt myself is more susceptible to breaking again," Pezzy said, rolling his sleeve up and showing scrapes along his arm, a pink, bubbly liquid faintly flowing underneath.
"And Kryoz?" Smitty asked. He wasn't even exactly sure what Kryoz was. Droid was clearly some type of robot, Puffer was a fish, Grizzy a bear, Pezzy... Well, he wasn't sure what exactly Pezzy was, but what he had was pretty clear. But Kryoz? A complete mystery to him.
Pezzy pulled his sleeve back down, looking over at Grizzy as he thought. "Kryoz is... Sensitive to temperature," Pezzy eventually said. Before Smitty could try to dig deeper into what that meant, Droid came back out of the house.
Behind him was a man, except his legs were replaced with those of a frogs. Despite the strange legs and the disheveled hair, Smitty still knew his best friend like the back of his own hand.
"Blarg?" Smitty said, standing. Blarg froze, locking eyes with Smitty. Before Smitty even knew Blarg moved, they were both on the ground, Blarg wrapping his arms tightly around Smitty's torso.
"Smitty! What the fuck are you doing here!?" Blarg exclaimed, pushing himself up to look Smitty in the eyes. Smitty looked away in shame, biting the inside of his cheek.
"We can go over that later, don't wanna ruin the mood," Smitty joked. Blarg solemnly nodded, sitting back on his legs, allowing Smitty to sit up.
"Fine. But are you okay!? I... I know this," Blarg looked down at himself, readjusting how he was sitting so his legs stretched out to the side, his head turned to look at Smitty, "is a lot."
"I... Yeah, it is. But I'm getting used to it. And hey, anything to be able to see you again," Smitty said, gently punching Blarg in the shoulder. Blarg smiled at his friend, gently shoving him back, which resulted in the two ending up in a small pushing war, both laughing the whole time.
Eventually Blarg hopped back up, Smitty following suit. Blarg took a small step back, Smitty trying to close the gap, and soon the two were off chasing each other across the open area, Droid, Pezzy, Grizzy, and Puffer, who had returned, watching the two run around like two little kids.
-----
"So... What happened when I left?" Blarg asked, leaning back against his headboard. Smitty hummed in response, his own legs tangled with Blarg's as he rested his head on his friend's shoulder.
"I... Well, as you know, you were where I was staying until I got on my feet, so when your lease was finally up... I, uh..."
"Smitty," Blarg interrupted, turning to look at the man, "were you... Homeless?"
Smitty nodded, unable to look up at Blarg. "It, uh... It wasn't too bad. I think I had it better than most other people. I was making enough money to eat enough in a day, had a few friends that let me occasionally crash at their place that I rotated between."
"Smit," Blarg said, a deep frown on his face. He pulled Smitty into a hug, resting his chin on the man's head. "You have here to stay, now."
"Yeah. As long as I have my best friend back," Smitty said. After a moment, he pushed back, looking up at Blarg. "But what happened? Where did you go?"
"Oh... Right... Well, I felt sick so I went on a walk, thinking that it might help a bit. But I also didn't wanna get anyone else sick, so I went off into the woods. Didn't plan to go far, tried to keep within range of cell service.
"Then... It just felt like my legs were on fire and tearing apart at the same time. I didn't see the process since I passed out from the pain, but I woke up here, and my legs were like this." As if to show an example, Blarg lifted one of his legs, wiggling the webbed toes.
"Kryoz explained how Grizzy found me and brought me here, and how I'm what he calls a Xandrian. Everyone else introduced themselves, and I've been here for the past two years. Kryoz left my phone out there, worried about it being traceable, so I wasn't able to contact you and tell you I was okay. Sorry."
"It... It's fine," Smitty said, looking down at his lap. That was... A lot. "I understand. At least we're together again," he reasoned, giving Blarg a smile that was probably unbelievably cheesy, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.
Blarg let out a shocked laugh, returning Smitty's smile with a wide one of his own. "Yeah, so you can mooch off my food again," Blarg said, giving Smitty's shoulder a playful shove.
Smitty pushed back, Blarg giving another, harsher push in retaliation, causing Smitty to tumble off the bed with a startled yelp. Blarg peered over the edge, smiling down at a wheezing Smitty. They had each other again. It was perfect.