He explained to me. Everything. His life, so lonely, so cold. So painfully full of nothing.
"As far as I'm concerned," He told me, slowly closing his eyes, "Is that I live a life in the middle of nowhere, being nothing until some random scientist needs me for another test. I don't know anything else, but life must get... better than this somehow."
I looked long and hard at him, then slowly reached out to touch his shoulder. The fingertips of my right hand gingerly grazed his shoulder. It was warm and furry. "Creature," I said.
"Shadow." He corrected me.
"I don't know much else, either. But if I was on Earth right now, I would be facing a horrible fate. This is the only hope for me. You probably have more potential than I do." He opened his eyes like the words shocked him, but I stood in the same place, just solemnly staring at him. I knew this. I faced this thought everyday. I had come to terms with it.
"I'm sorry." He said steadily, "But what potential do I have, when all I know how to do is live the life of a project." He hardly said it like it was a question, like he was repeating something that he said before. Not often, I hoped. Likely often though, considering what he said next. "I can't escape, either. The scientists have learned to keep me away from sharp instruments.
I looked him in the eyes, and after a moment he asked, "What do you stare so intensely for?"
"I've never had a conversation like this. At least, not in a hundred million years."
"You humans must live a very long time. I'm eternal life, you know. We can be friends."
I laughed, realizing he didn't know what a hyperbole was. "Friends." I agreed. We shook hands.
"Great." Shadow said with a hint of a lopsided smile on his face, "A friend to make my boring world not quite as boring."
I smiled, deeply surprising myself. It wasn't until then that I realized how much I had forgotten what a smile felt like.
Shadow and I sat in my room. I had showed it to him, and he was amazed by how comfortable my bed was. He said creations had to sleep in cages back at the lab. We sat on my bed, doing work. I had school work that my grandfather assigned, and Shadow had tests to take that didn't have to be monitored. "Is a negative plus a negative also a negative?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't know the answer.
"I have no idea." He admitted, "Probably."
"Okay."
I marked "TRUE" on my paper.
"Am I required to focus Chaos Energy in or around me to preform a Chaos Blast?" Shadow asked.
"No idea." I admitted in response.
"Okay, I'm gonna put around, because, uh, hmm... Maybe it's in." He scribbled something onto his sheet of paper.
"Shadow?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"Thanks for keeping me company."
"What are friends for?" He asked with a sly smile, resulting in a femanine giggle from me.
I could get used to this.
