A Different Kind of Monster- Eddsworld AU

Chapter 7

-Tom-

At least when the stupid scientists came into the room, Tom had something to do. Even if that something was attempting to strangle random people who just so happened to be the closest to him. It was entertaining, the way their faces contorted so quickly from their neutral expressions to absolute terror.

Sadly, that got old really fast.

What Tom would give for a chance to run across a barren tundra or swim in a freezing river. To experience something other than the dull pain the scientists kept in the tiny syringes.

Tom pulled his parka on, feeling the tiny chills of the air vents. It made him grumpy. After all that time in the forests where it snowed almost all year and didn't much warmer than freezing, the air conditioning still sent shivers down his spine.

The walls opened to reveal the weird butt-chined scientist holding all-white clothes. After overcoming the initial culty vibes Tom got from them, he realized they were very similar to hospital gowns.

Hell no. Hospital gowns were itchy and barely covered anything. Did they expect him to change in front of all the people probably behind the walls? The scientist inched closer, holding out the fabric so it would be within reach but Tom wouldn't be able to touch anything besides their finger.

Tom snatched the clothes from their hands so quickly the scientist didn't realize until Tom already had them in his grip. The butt-chined human made a small noise, almost resembling a whimper, and retreated back to the other side of the wall. Tom watched as he disappeared before turning to the one-sided window.

"What, you want a show?" he growled playfully, though no response was heard. The monster didn't want to give them anything, no one on that side of the wall deserved a single thing from Tom. "Well, too bad."

He promptly peeled off his layers and replaced them with the thin, scratchy covering.

Soldiers stormed in and nearly knocked Tom off his feet as they dragged him out of the room, followed by a quick and nearly painless shot of the drowsy-liquid. What a fun way to start the day.

...

Grey was never the most awful color to look at. This moment ensured that. Sure, it was rather bland, but it beat out white any day of the week. The overall greyness of the new room was not as deafening as the starch white of the old one. Also, there were some rather colorful people in the corner in the room. A drastic improvement already.

The two colorful people wore vibrant shades of green and purple (was that a green overcoat on top of a purple hoodie?) and stood awkwardly in the corner of the room. The purple one especially fidgety, playing with the strings on his hoodie. They certainly didn't belong in this sea of white lab coats. Hovering behind them was that odd horn-haired human wearing a mix of blue and red. It made Tom miss his parka.

The scientists shared a look, glancing over to the human with the green hoodie every once in a while. Everyone seemed to get the picture because they all left in a giant clump save for the one.

Once they were alone, the green-clad human gracelessly walked up to Tom, who was still wearing the least amount of clothing that was still deemed appropriate.

They extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Edd."

Tom stared down at the hand, scrunching up his face in disgust.

Edd sighed, "Right. I- uh, you have some nice eyes?" The sentence was probably supposed to be as a statement but left a lot to be desired. It made Tom slightly aware that his eyes were one of the few things he couldn't hide, them being too unapologetically outlandish to ignore.

"Look," Edd said cautiously, "I'm not very sure what I'm supposed to do here. Apparently, they can't find a way to talk to you, but they're frankly quite rude. Maybe toning it down a bit would help with that. But right now, telling me the most useless piece of information would be great. Getting out of here as soon as possible would be perfect." Edd stared expectedly, his eyes almost pleading for any form of response.

Maybe talking to this human wouldn't be so bad. He was probably one of the nicest Tom had met so far, and the most brutally honest. Also, his constant fidgeting was more pitiful than fun to watch. Might as well put it out of its misery.

"I have a British accent," Tom replied without missing a beat.

Edd stood in front of him for a moment, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. He didn't know what to say. "That's probably the most believable thing about this entire situation," he decided on.

Suddenly, Edd's whole body language shifted. His posture relaxed a smidge and his shoulders dropped considerably. Even his face got a bit less uptight, even letting a bit of carelessness shine through. Tom started to like this human.

"Wait until they get me off the meds. It starts to feel like a fever dream."

Tom, though he would never admit it, felt a bit lighter when Edd's face broke out in a smile. He'd craved human companionship for a long time, and here it was, smiling and quietly huffing laughter.

"Really? Hard to talk to? You?"

"They're all dicks anyways. Pretty boring too."

"Aww, c'mon. They're not all that bad," Edd joked.

Tom felt a smile creep onto his own face, relaxing his body too. "Ehhhh. Not really."

They continued like this for a long time, the back and forth banter. Somewhere into the conversation, Tom brought up alcohol. Edd sneakily brought out a flask and offered it to Tom. Tom felt as though he'd just found his new best friend for life.

When the soldiers and scientists came back into the room, they were genuinely shocked to find that the two of them were laughing hysterically at an empty beaker on the table, only to shriek when it fell over. They hauled Tom out of the room immediately and shoved Edd over to the guy with the purple hoodie and almost square face.

Tom briefly thought that maybe it was a ploy to figure him out, but Edd had seemed so genuine (and he was so drunk) that Tom couldn't hold the thought for more than a minute before letting it go into the back of his consciousness.

Hey it didn't take a year to upload another chapter. Yay! Sorry this was so short though, it just seemed to end naturally right there. Also, I apologize for the dialogue, cause I suck at writing it. Anyways, have a good day and enjoy!

-Rando